Mistaken
by sym64
Summary: Danny – Steve – arguments – demands for a time-out – old buddies form Jersey – big bust – dinner with friends – deranged boyfriend – rainstorm – disaster strikes. That are the ingredients for a perfectly normal weekend for Five-0. Set in season two.
1. Chapter 1  Teaser

**Title:** Mistaken

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, CBS and Peter Lenkov and who knows who else does. I'm just going to have some fun with them but I promise to put them back after I'm done in perfect working condition. Okay maybe not perfect but as good as new.

**Rating:** T

**Warning:** mention of domestic abuse and violence against minors (but not in a graphic way, it's merely hinted at), and yes the characters act like real people so there's cursing

**Summary:** Danny – Steve – arguments – demands for a time-out – old buddies form Jersey – big bust – dinner with friends – deranged boyfriend – rainstorm – disaster strikes. These are the ingredients for a perfectly normal weekend for Five-0. Set in season two.

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><p><strong>Mistaken – Chapter 01 - Teaser<strong>

_**Unknown location - Saturday 1 am**_

Steve comes slowly awake and the first thing he's aware of is the pain in his ankle. But it only takes a few seconds for the pain in his gut to chime in; he curls in on himself only to realize that his hands are cuffed behind his back. He's lying on a rough and wet surface and the moisture and cold of the wet stone are creeping into his body. He's shivering and he's not sure if it's just the cold or the pain that is pulsing through his battered body.

He's dizzy and nauseous, his ankle's on fire, his head's gonna explode any second, but it's his gut that makes him groan loudly. He's suffering incredible cramps like his intestines are being ripped apart. Steve's trying to breathe through the unbearable pain - without much success.

"It's from the drug," a voice is penetrating his pain filled brain. "Takes another hour or so to abate."

"Wha. . .who. . .?"

"We'll talk later Mick, enjoy the next hour," with that the voice is gone.

And Steve is left behind, alone in a dimly lit bunker-like room with a very high ceiling wondering who the hell 'Mick' is. He can barely make out an opening that is covered with heavy bars and the light rain is coming down on him, soaking him even some more. The room must have some openings because he can feel a slight breeze going through the room, making the room a lot colder than it is. His ankle is chained to a post that is embedded into the floor and his hands are cuffed behind his back.

He has no idea how long he's been lying on the floor for but according to his bladder it must be for some hours. There's no way he can relieve himself without peeing his pants. No one but himself would blame him, but he's not at the point to let go yet. Besides the pain in his gut is all consuming again and he's forgotten his need to pee for the time being. He's writhing on the floor hoping for the painful cramping to stop, to give him another minute to breathe again. This second wave of pain is even worse than the first one. Five minutes later he's screaming in agony. By then he's soiled after losing control, which doesn't really matter since he's completely soaked anyway.

It takes more than ten minutes for the cramping to finally stop again, leaving him panting and completely worn out. He's lying on the cold ground closing his eyes for a minute and trying to catch his breath and praying that the pain won't come back.

He's shivering in earnest now, soaked and chilled to the bone. His head is still a little fuzzy and the nausea hasn't abated yet. He tries to figure out how he ended up here, wherever 'here' is. But the only thing he comes up with is that he left HQ after they finished with their latest case and that he got into his truck, everything else is just blank.

His head is throbbing mercilessly and his vision is blurry, a sure sign of a concussion. If the pain, memory loss and nausea is any indication it's a bad one. He's just kind of breathing normally again when the pain slams into him anew. Steve tries to curl himself into a ball as much as he can but it's doing nothing to lessen the agony that's ripping him apart. He hears himself scream again and just doesn't care, he's never felt pain like that before. He can't breathe, his vision is tunneling and he just hopes to pass out. When the pain spreads to his upper belly his body mercifully gives out on him and he slips into blissful darkness.

H50 – H50 – H50


	2. Chapter 2 The Beginning

**Chapter 01 – The Beginning**

**Five-0 Headquarters, Friday around noon**

"Hey you got a minute?"

"Yeah sure Danny, what's up?"

Danny follows his friend into his office and stands in front of the desk.

"Danny?"

"Uhm listen Steve this may sound strange and I don't want you to take it the wrong way or anything and it has nothing to do with you, it's just. . ."

"Danny what's gotten into you, you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I need a break," Danny suddenly blurts out.

"A break? You mean you want to put in for some vacation time? Yeah sure Danny, I'm pretty sure we need to fill out a form or something. . ."

"NO! That's not what I mean. I need a break from US."

"Us? What do you mean US?"

"You and me."

"Huh?"

"Look we're together all the time, we work together and we spend time together after work, I just. . ."

"You don't want to be my partner anymore Danno?"

"WHAT! NO! Steve you're my partner and my best friend, god this is so embarrassing. Of course I want to be your partner, nothing will ever change that, you know that."

"Danny I don't get it, you don't want to hang out with me?"

"No I want to hang out with you, just. . .not this weekend."

"You got Grace and need some alone time with her, Danny I'm sorry if I cut in to your time with her, I didn't mean to take. . ."

"No, Grace loves you and she loves to spend time with her Uncle Steve. No, that's not it and you're always welcome when I have Grace you moron, you never cut into my time with her."

"Damn it Danny then tell me what you want!"

"Some friends from Jersey are coming today for the weekend. . .you know. . .and I wanted to pick them up from the airport in an hour and. . .well. . ."

"You don't want me to meet them or them me?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

"Steve it's not like. . ."

"No it's okay Danny, I understand. Go take the rest of the day off and have a great weekend. I'll see you on Monday."

"You sure about that?"

"Positive."

"I'll talk to you on Monday and explain everything, okay?"

"Sure Danny."

Steve looks after Danny as he leaves his office and wonders what the hell that was all about. _Why doesn't he want me to meet his friends? I'm not that bad am I_? Steve is still deep in thought when Chin comes into his office.

"Where's Danny going?"

"Some friends from Jersey are coming over for the weekend, he asked for the day off."

"Yeah I know he told me a few days ago, ask us to come have dinner with them tomorrow. You okay Steve?"

"Yeah sure," Steve actually feels like he just got sucker punched. "He asked you and Kono?"

"And Lori. I don't know about Lori but Kono will go, Malia and I are at her mother's house for her birthday. So you and the girls are on your own with the bunch from Jersey."

"Well about that. . ."

"Guys we have a lead on Dunbar. He was just seen at the free-trade-zone down at the harbor. Where's Danny," Kono just barged into Steve's office.

"Not here, let's go."

It only takes them a few minutes to grab their gear and they're on their way to hopefully arrest Jack Dunbar, a smuggler who had eluded them for over a week now.

H50 – H50 – H50

"That was way too easy," Steve is telling Chin after they gave Dunbar over to some HPD officers.

"Not one single shot fired, no running after him, he just surrendered? Danny really missed out on something."

"Yeah. Come on let's finish with the paperwork and call it a week."

"Steve you gonna meet with the 'Jerseys' before tomorrow?"

"No."

"They must be pretty good friends of Danny's if they fly all those miles to visit him. Wonder why we never heard of them before," Chin is looking at his friend and boss for an answer.

"Hmmm."

"Everything okay Steve?"

"Yeah everything is fine," but it's clear to everyone that Steve is preoccupied. Chin and Kono are wondering if that has something to do with a certain New Jersey detective.

It takes them three hours to put the final touches on the case and to send their report to Denning and the DA.

"So you're ready to close shop?" Steve is looking at his three team members.

"Yeah all done. You guys are going to meet with Danny later?" Lori is looking at her boss. Funny how things developed in the last few weeks. She was sure that she had been sent here to 'spy' on them or at least 'babysit' them, but so far Denning hadn't called her in for a report. After a little awkward phase in the beginning when Kono was not back on the team yet, she now feels very welcomed. Steve made it easy on her, he was very open and told her right from the beginning that she had to earn the trust of the team first. And she thinks that she had, especially after the adventure in Korea.

"No I've told him that I can't. Charlie invited me a week ago to a camping trip. I totally forgot about it but I already told Danny that I won't be able to meet his friends. Lori what about you?"

"No I can't, my sister's in town. Guess that leaves just McGarrett," Lori's smiling at her boss.

"No I'm not going to meet his buddies," he leaves it at that. _Maybe Danny doesn't want me to meet his friends because the others all canceled on him and he just doesn't want me to meet them alone? That doesn't sound very logical. Whatever_.

"What you're busy?"

"No Chin I'm not actually. If you must know Danny didn't invite me, in fact he asked me to stay away."

"He what? You can't be serious," Kono can't believe what she just heard. Steve and Danny are best friends, they couldn't be closer if they were in a romantic relationship.

"It was really strange but he doesn't want me to meet his friends. I don't know, he said it's nothing personal and he will explain on Monday," Steve is saying it like it doesn't even bother him. "Look I trust him, he must have a good reason for it. I mean I'm not that bad a friend. I can act civilized around other people, right?"

"I would take you and introduce you to my mother," everyone is looking at Lori. "That came out wrong, what I meant was that Danny didn't mean for you to think that he's embarrassed about you, damn that didn't sound much better, did it? I guess I better shut up now."

Steve actually smiles at her, "Don't worry I know what you mean. So any of you guys interested in some steak and beer? My treat."

"Wow your treat, Danny is really missing out today," Chin is laughing at his friend. He has no idea what Danny's doing but it's obvious even though Steve's putting on a brave face that his feelings are hurt. Chin is determined to get his friend's mind off Danny's strange behavior. "How about Joe's Grill and Bar?"

"I'm in. The last steak was so great, what was that again," Lori is talking about her first visit to the restaurant with the team.

"Angus steak," Steve tells her.

"Oh yeah and the mushrooms in that light sour cream on the side, hmmm, can we go there now?"

The four of them are laughing when they file out of HQ and agree to meet at Joe's in an hour. Chin wants to swing by the hospital to see if he can get Malia to come, Kono and Lori insist that they need to change and Steve hopes to get a few minutes of Skype-time with a certain Lieutenant. So far they were at least able to talk a few minutes every week, but hopefully they would meet 'half-way' soon. It's interesting how important something can get when you don't have it anymore.

They all get in their cars and start their hard earned weekend.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny Williams is looking around the bar and wonders whatever possessed him to agree to meet with these people. Yeah sure they were colleagues from back then, when he was still a Jersey detective, but except for Jeff he was never _that_ close to them. When he learned that they were to attend a bachelor weekend for one of the guys who was going to get married to some insanely rich girl and that they were spending that weekend in Hawaii, he jumped at the opportunity to meet them.

He's looking at one of the guys who's laughing his head off at one of his own stupid Navy jokes. He's now kind of grateful that Steve's actually not there to witness this display of stupidity. He feels like an ass that he told Steve that he needs a break. What a dumb, stupid choice of words. He was too embarrassed to tell him that he didn't want him to meet this bunch of people because he's actually embarrassed about them. Also although it's not very nice, the longer he's with them the clearer it becomes that he's nothing like them anymore.

They could tell some pretty embarrassing stories about him and Danny just didn't want Steve to know some of the stuff he did. _Yeah as if he would think any less of you, dumb-ass._ Danny's aware that he hurt Steve's feelings, he saw the look he gave him when the realization hit him what Danny wanted from him. He'll need to do some serious groveling on Monday and a lot of explaining will be needed.

"Hey Shorty, come on let's find another dump where they serve real beer and not this Hawaiian stuff," one of his buddies is announcing.

"Don't you guys want to eat something first, they have great steaks here."

"Ah come on Shorty, we can get a burger somewhere, we're not here for the food."

"Fine."

They pay for their drinks and are on their way to a bar that feels more like Jersey as one of the guys puts it. _This is going to be a long weekend,_ one that he could have spent with his friend at a nice BBQ or just some beers on the beach. But nooo Danny Williams was again speaking before thinking and was enthusiastically telling his 'friend' Jeff that he couldn't wait to meet the old guys again. _Yeah a really long weekend_.

H50 – H50 – H50

The Five-0's, well of course sans Danny, are having a great time at Joe's. The steaks are fantastic as always and the conversation fun and light. Not a word about work but just stories about their youthful years. Even Steve is telling funny stories about his life as a junior, a very rare occurrence.

Kono is talking about the two months she spent in Australia with the surf circus, she tells about the different culture, food and even language. How some funny misunderstandings led to a friendship that still holds.

A couple of hours later they're leaving Joe's. The only downside of Joe's Bar and Grill is that it's a little out of the way but a twenty minute drive should bring everyone home.

"You guys have a good weekend, see you all on Monday."

"You too Steve."

Everyone leaves in their respective cars and soon they're all on their way.

Steve's thinking about the missed call to Cath. They couldn't get a stable connection and could only see each other for a few seconds and talk a few words but that was it. However they agreed to try again on Sunday morning and he's really looking forward to it. Since she left all those weeks back it's been a real shock how much he's missing her. He can't wait to see her again. He's just thinking about what they're going to do when they're going to meet 'half-way' when his car gets rammed by another truck.

Steve wasn't really paying attention so the attack comes completely out of the blue and he loses control instantly. He crashes into the guardrail, the airbags deploy and the sound of metal on metal is deafening. Steve is violently shoved into his seatbelt when the car comes to a sudden stop. He's kind of dazed after he hit his head on the door-beam but tries to get his seatbelt to open. Before he can get out of the car however someone appears at the side, opens the driver's door and before he knows it sticks a needle into his neck. It only takes a couple of seconds for his vision to blur even more and he slumps over to the side. He would have fallen out of the car but the unknown men grab him, carry him to their truck and shove him into the back of it.

One of the men gets into Steve's truck and drives down to the stretch of road without the guardrail, gets out and lets the truck roll down the side of the road. No one will see it from above and since he disarmed the GPS no one will be able to trace it either. It could take days before that car will be found.

There are no witnesses to the accident or the kidnapping. And just like that Lt. Commander Steve McGarrett vanishes.

H50 - H50 – H50


	3. Chapter 3 Finding out

_First of all let me tell you how overwhelmed I still am. Your reviews make me so happy. And thank you for all the alerts and pm's. Believe me I appreciate it even more now that I know how much better the story can be with the right beta._

_I'm completely amazed that you were willing to read my stuff even with all the mistakes in it. YOU GUYS ROCK!_

_**Now to the really, really important part. Thank you Cokie316, YOU are amazing. Thank you for making me work so hard, for being relentless and blunt (in a very nice way I might add). Thank you for investing such energy and time in me.**_

_**And also a big thank you to Sherry57 who is helping me out in a big way. Thank you.**_

_**You two are really great!**_

_And now for your enjoyment the new chapter. Let me know what you think!_

_A/N Chapter 1 and 2 is reposted, you might like to check it out. Thanks Sherry57 for the corrections.  
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><p><strong>Chapter 03<strong>

**Unknown location, Saturday 3 a.m.**

Steve had felt cold before; the cold water condition exercises at 'SEAL-school' as Danny calls it, were pretty hard. But he did those without a head injury, now he's cold and he just wants to sleep, but knows if he gives in to it, the chance of not waking up again is pretty high. He's shivering and already in the early stages of hypothermia, the wet clothes and the constant breeze chilling him to the bone.

It's clear to him that he suffered a severe concussion, although how it happened he has no idea, he still can't remember anything about the events that led to him ending up here. He can't focus and his vision is still blurry, even the dim light is hurting his eyes. He's still nauseous even though his stomach settled somewhat after the terrible pain in his gut ended about half an hour ago.

He remembers dimly that he heard a voice before the worst of the cramps started and that he was told they would talk later. So far no one had returned. Steve is still lying on his side, after trying to sit up twice, but each time he failed to even lift his head off the floor. The pain that pierced through his skull made it impossible to maintain or even reach a sitting position. Wouldn't help him much anyway, his hands are still cuffed behind his back and his ankle is still chained to the pole.

His shoulders are starting to hurt from being in the same position for so many hours. He had finally gotten full range of motion back after straining some muscles during his trip to Korea, but they are still a bit sensitive to some movements. The cuffs are not that tight around his wrists but he can feel that his wrists are chafed pretty badly and he's sure to draw blood soon. His ankle is swollen and aches; a broken bone is a real possibility. So head, wrist and ankle, all other parts of his body seem to be intact. The drug, whatever it was that he was injected with, seemed to have worn off. There is no lingering pain, maybe the dizziness and nausea is from the drug, he can't rule it out. But it doesn't really make a difference if it's from the head injury or the drug. _Well you moron if it's from the drug it might wear off soon._ He's groaning when his 'annoying voice' makes an appearance. Lately it sounds a lot like Danny.

He smiles when he thinks about his friend, even though he's still kind of mad at him right now for not wanting him to meet his friends. Well okay, maybe not mad, but a little hurt, because he still doesn't understand why. 'I'll explain it on Monday,' he said. Well hopefully he'll be able to hear it then. _You can find me sooner Danny if you like, I wouldn't complain._

Steve makes another attempt to sit up, but only ends up back on the ground. Sent back there by a pain on the left side of his head so severe that it makes him wish to pass out again. He squeezes his eyes shut and tries to breathe through the pain. He's still lying in the same position when the rain starts again.

H50 – H50 – H50

**ME's Office, Saturday 6 a.m.**

"Hey Max, I thought you had the day off," Officer Kalua is asking while he's wheeling a gurney with a body bag into the morgue.

"Not since I lost my bet. And I would rather not discuss it."

"Okay."

"Any information about the victim?"

"Car accident, lost control in the rain, crashed into a concrete wall. Guess that was a quick death."

"Not much of a mystery then."

"Well I wouldn't say that. HPD found some interesting personal items in the car."

"What items?"

"A used syringe, keys for handcuffs, flashlight and military boots that are not his."

"How do you know?"

"They are at least three sizes too large and they have blood on them."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah a receipt for a steak dinner for four at Joe's from Friday, paid by credit card. HPD will run the number, maybe one of the guests knows more about this guy. He has no ID on him or in the car."

"I will send my report to HPD then."

"Yeah Max, see you later."

H50 – H50 – H50

**Unknown location, unknown time**

Steve has no idea how much time has passed since he was last awake but he can see that the sky is getting a little lighter. _Must be early morning_. He's almost thankful for the rain that began again, it washed away all traces of him peeing a few hours ago, now it doesn't even smell anymore. And the rain provided him with some fluids. For the first time since he woke up in this dungeon he's able to think a little clearer. His head is still hurting badly and any attempt to sit up ends with him slumping back, but his head at least seems a little clearer.

He hopes that the sun will shine into his cell soon and will warm him up a little. He's still shivering and started coughing a few minutes ago, which brought his headache to a completely new level. His feet are freezing, he hasn't even noticed before that he's barefoot. His button down shirt is also gone and he's clad only in his cargoes and a formerly white t-shirt.

Steve thinks back to yesterday, thinks about Danny's strange request and how they busted Dunbar down at the harbor. Steve remembers that he invited everyone to Joe's for dinner and beer but he can't remember if they ever made it there. And he has no idea whatsoever how he ended up here…or why.

If they went to the restaurant and said their goodbyes then no one will miss him until Monday. _No that's not true, Cath will call on Sunday. She will know that something's wrong and will do something._ He holds on to that thought when the pain in his head forces him back down once again. Steve closes his eyes and just tries to breathe through the pain, worrying that something is seriously wrong with his head. _Yeah Danny has been telling you that for a long time now._ He has a smile on his face when the darkness wins out again.

H50 – H50 – H50

**Chin Ho Kelly and Malia's home, Saturday 11 a.m.**

"Kelly," Chin is talking into the phone that started ringing as soon as he stepped into his home.

"Lieutenant Kelly?"

"Yeah, who's this?"

"Officer Lahinu. Sir I'm trying to get in touch with Commander McGarrett but can't reach him."

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Sir, there was an accident and we have a John Doe in the morgue. We found a receipt for a dinner at Joe's paid by Commander McGarrett last night."

"What?"

"Lieutenant, the dead body is NOT McGarrett. But, if you went down there, maybe you can ID him."

"I'll be there in twenty."

"Thank you Sir."

Chin ends the call and helps Malia bring in the rest of their fresh market purchases while quickly explaining where he is going. He's out the door in less than five minutes and enters the morgue fifteen minutes later.

"Max, you got a John Doe?"

"Yes, he arrived early this morning and I was just starting with the autopsy. Would you like to see the articles that were brought in with him?"

"Yes please."

"Well, first is this syringe; I have sent a sample to the lab but no results yet. The most interesting thing however are the boots," Max explains while putting them on the table.

"Max, is that blood?"

"Yes, it is."

"Are they size eleven?"

"How did you know?"

"They are Steve's."

"Why would the accident victim have Steve's boots in his car?"

"I don't know Max, but we're going to find out. Please test the blood to see if it's Steve's."

Chin is just getting his phone out when Max gets a call from the lab.

"The lab results?" Chin quickly asks as Max hangs up the phone.

"Yes," the medical examiner replies. "The syringe contained a highly potent tranquilizer used to sedate large animals."

"Can it be used on humans?"

"Yes, but that is not advisable. This drug would cause very painful side effects."

"But you could sedate a human with it?"

"Yes, it would knock someone out in seconds."

"Okay, can I see the body Max?"

"Yes, of course, please follow me." Max leads him into the adjoining room where the body of the accident victim is already prepped on the table ready for autopsy. "I was just starting when you came in." He pulls back the sheet and reveals the face of a young man Chin has never seen before.

"You know the cause of death, Max?"

"I would say, most likely, the broken neck, of course any of his multiple injuries could be the cause. The X-rays show a clean break of his neck and multiple other broken bones; he was basically crushed. Naturally, I will need to rule out other causes like a stroke or heart-attack, but the broken neck would have killed him anyway. I find it amazing that his face is almost untouched. I am also pretty sure I will find a lot of internal injuries as well. I think the impact into the wall and the sudden stop of the car caused his head to snap forth and back and that ultimately broke his neck."

"Isn't that most likely resulting in whiplash, not in breaking one's neck?"

"Well, yes, but he may have had a predisposition for it, like weak muscles or prior injury or any illnesses. As I said, I need to confirm COD."

"Thank you, Max, please keep us posted with your findings. I'm heading over to HQ."

"Yes, of course."

Chin gets out his phone and calls Steve, wondering why he didn't try that before. But he only gets his voice-mail. He then calls Kono and tells her to meet him at HQ as soon as possible and to call Lori. Next on his list is Danny, and after five rings, Williams finally answers.

"This better be good, Chin."

"Danny, where are you?" Chin can hear a lot of noise in the background. "Steve is missing."

"What do you mean missing?"

"He's not answering his phone and we found his bloody boots in a dead man's car. That kind of missing."

"What?"

"Danny, come to HQ and I'll explain." Chin pauses and then asks, "Danny are you sober?"

"Yeah, I only had one beer, I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Good."

Chin leaves the ME's office and hopes that his friend is not in serious trouble again. They just got him back.

H50 – H50 – H50

Chin and Kono are already at HQ gathering what little information they have on the case onto the screens when Danny comes in. Obviously directly from wherever they were partying, he's clad in jeans, t-shirt and sneakers. Lori is right behind him.

"I swung by Steve's before I came here, doesn't look like he was home last night. What do we know, Chin? Give me a time-frame."

"Okay. After you left yesterday, we got a tip that Dunbar was down at the harbor and we made an arrest. No hassle at all, the easiest bust ever. Not one shot fired. After all the paperwork was done, we headed out around five. Steve invited us all to Joe's at six thirty. We met there, had dinner and a great evening, and left around nine thirty or ten. That's the last we saw him. At 3 a.m. our victim died in a car crash and Max got him at 6 a.m. I was informed by HPD at eleven a.m. that they found a receipt from Joe's in his car. It's Steve's…from our meal last night. They also found his bloody boots, a syringe with residue from a strong tranquilizer and keys to handcuffs in the car. No ID on the vic yet."

"Why did it take so long to call any of us?"

"Well it's a simple accident victim, they had no idea that Steve is involved. After they traced the credit card number they tried to call Steve, but only got his voice-mail. After that, they called me."

"Okay, we need to ID the victim and find out his connection to Steve. Then we need to find Steve's truck, did you try his GPS?"

"Yes of course Danny," Kono tells him, "but it's disabled. Same with his phone." Kono looks just as distressed as the rest of them.

"So if that guy hadn't died, we wouldn't have known anything was wrong until Monday?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Chin replies.

"Max, what'd you get?" Chin answers his phone. "Okay, great, send it over please, and thanks Max, good work. Yes, we will keep you posted."

"Max ID-ed the vic?"

"Yeah, he's sending the data over. . .now. Here we go," Chin puts the information on the screen. "What the hell? George Barns, 28, works in a sports bar, no priors not even a parking ticket. What is going on here?"

"Okay, listen," Danny decides, "Kono, you and Chin go to Joe's and follow Steve's most likely way home, look for anything out of the ordinary. Maybe he drove off the road or something. We need to find his truck. Lori and I will check out the sports bar. Maybe Steve went there after your dinner."

"I don't think so Danny, he was tired and wanted to go home. Besides Steve is not a sports bar kind of guy."

"Yeah, well he went for 'umbrella drinks' with Joe, so who knows. Speaking of, should we call Joe?"

"No, I don't think they're on the best terms at the moment, so let's wait until we know more."

"Okay let's head out," Danny tells them. "Chin call us if you find anything."

The four Five-0's are heading out in the hope of finding a lead on the disappearance of their boss.

H50 – H50 – H50


	4. Chapter 4 Investigations

**Chapter 04 - Investigations**

When Danny and Lori enter the sports bar they instantly see that this is an upper class establishment. No 'seedy' people or any drunks in sight. The whole bar is squeaky clean with tables and booths for sitting but also tables to stand around. On the walls are huge flat screens that would make Chin jealous. Even at this time at barely noon, it is crowded with guests - locals and tourists alike. Seemed to be a good mix.

They find their way to the bar and call one of the bartenders.

"Hey, folks, welcome to Sporty's. What can I get you?"

"Information on one of your colleagues, George Barns."

"You know where he is? He missed his shift. First he left early yesterday and now he's a no-show."

"Can we talk somewhere in private? I'm Detective Williams, and this is Officer Weston."

"Ah yeah sure, just a minute. Kenny! I'll be back in a few." He turns back to them. "Please follow me."

They are led into an office in the back, "I'm sorry, I'm Jack Daniels. Please no jokes, heard them all. Where is George?"

"Mr. Daniels," Danny begins, still grinning slightly, "I'm sorry, but George Barns is dead. He died last night in a car crash."

"Last night? When?"

"Around three a.m. Why?"

"His girlfriend, well if you can call her that, called last night around eleven and asked where he was. I told her that he left around eight after he got a phone call."

"Mr. Daniels, has George been acting strange in any way lately?"

"You can say that. He was totally crazy about that Mick guy."

"Who's Mick?" Lori asked as she and Danny glanced at each other

"A few days ago, George told me that his girlfriend," he uses air quotes and rolls his eyes, "is having an affair with that Mick guy. You need to understand, George is insanely jealous and Jinny is kind of a flirt. But according to her, she's not in a relationship with George. They don't live together or anything. Anyway, George found out that 'Mick' was seeing 'his' girl. He said he was going to kill that guy. I didn't think anything of it, because George talks crazy shit like that all the time. Then yesterday, Mick came to pick Jinny up. George was fuming. I mean it was clear that George couldn't compete with that guy Mick who is at least six feet, dark hair, good looking, athletic. A guy you would notice even in a crowd. Anyway, he and Jinny left together in his pick-up."

"What kind of pick-up?" Danny asks, getting a really bad feeling about this.

"Blue Silverado. Jinny said they wanted to go to Joe's and meet with some friends. George left here about an hour later."

"This Jinny. . .where does she work?"

"At a Vet, I'm not sure exactly where, but it's on Pensacola Street near McKinley High School. Sorry, I don't know the name."

"Do you have her phone number?"

"No. Oh wait, she called last night. Her number should be in the phone." He grabs the phone and gives the number to Lori who's going to get her address with it.

"Thank you Mr. Daniels you were very helpful. We might come by again for further questions."

"Sure yeah, I'm the assistant manager, so I'm here most of the time."

"Okay thank you."

A couple minutes later they are back in the parking lot. "Lori, what do you think?"

"I think that Steve was not the target."

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking, too. That doesn't make it easier."

"No, it doesn't. You want to go see Jinny now that I have her address."

"Yeah. Call Chin and tell him what we found out."

They are both back in Danny's car and heading off to speak to the vic's 'girlfriend'.

H50 – H50 – H50

"You think he's all right?"

"I don't know Kono. I hope so."

"Chin stop!"

"What?"

"Look at that!" She's already out of the car and looking at the guardrail that is scraped with a lot of blue paint. "Someone crashed into it."

"There have been no reports of any accidents on this road in the last forty eight hours."

"Chin this is fresh." She looks around and over the railing. "But where's the car? I bet that's from Steve's truck."

"Let's keep looking. Maybe he was able to drive further after he crashed into the rail."

They are slowly driving with Kono on the lookout for anything disturbed on the side of the road.

"Stop! I think I see something," Kono cries out excitedly. Again she's out of the car and looks down the slope next to the road. About thirty feet below is their boss' blue truck, idly sitting on its four wheels. If you were not specifically looking for it you would never see it.

They both make their way down to it and discover that their friend is not inside. They can see that the airbag had been deployed and it's obvious that another car rammed into the driver's side.

"There must have been at least two people," Chin surmised. "One injected Steve with the drug while he was either dazed or already unconscious from the impact and pulled him out. Otherwise they would never have gotten near him to inject him with anything. The other one must have driven the car down here. We need to call Danny and tell him."

"I'll do that while you call HPD to pull the car out," Kono told her cousin. "This is a crime scene."

They all swap their gathered information, but on all their minds is just one question: where is Steve?

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve is finally almost dry and not so damn cold anymore. Of course his head still hurts and his situation is not much better yet. He's still lying on the now dry ground, his hands are still cuffed behind his back and he figured out that the cuffs are looped through his belt, effectively keeping him from getting his hands in front of him. That feat would really help him right now because he doesn't think that he can hold out for much longer, but he really doesn't want to wet himself again. The urge to pee increases with every passing minute and he knows that he needs to let go if he doesn't want to risk infection. But to wet himself is the ultimate humiliation and not something anyone can live with easily, so he's still suffering through a painfully full bladder and fights the urge to pee a little longer.

His arms had stopped trembling a few minutes ago after some painful cramping from being in one position for so many hours. He hadn't coughed in the last few hours and his breathing had eased a lot, it doesn't sound so wet anymore. It's amazing what a little sunshine can do for you, but he can already see the clouds forming and knows that he'll be wet again soon enough.

His gut is starting to cramp and there's no way he can keep it in any longer. It actually takes him a minute to get it flowing, since he fought so long not to pee. Even though he hates his body for what he feels as betrayal he still sighs in relief. It takes forever to stop and Steve wonders where all that came from since he has only drunk some rainwater since last time. He's almost grateful when the rain starts, because that means he'll be relatively clean again in a few minutes. Always look at the bright sight. _Yeah not much else to look at right now_.

Steve is awake for a few hours at a time now and thinks his head might actually be getting a little better; a few more hours and he might even be able to think about an escape plan. 'The Voice' hasn't been back yet, if anyone was even here in the first place. He isn't sure anymore if it was real or only in his drug-induced imagination. He opens his mouth to catch some rain to keep somewhat hydrated.

Steve has complete confidence that his team will find him, the only thing he needs to do is stay alive long enough for them to start missing him. He knows that, in the best case scenario, it will be another night before someone knows that he's he is missing; worst case scenario it will be two more nights. Two nights would be bad, it is cold at night and he knows he's on the verge of getting pneumonia; he could already hear the wet sounds his lungs were making a few hours ago. Not a good sign.

He managed to sit up for the first time since he woke up, but now he's getting dizzy and needs to lay back down. He closes his eyes against the intense pain in his head sleep is beckoning him and he sees no real reason to fight it.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Ms. Miller, open up, Five-0." Danny knocks on the door of Jinny Miller's apartment. "Ms. Miller!"

"Yeah, yeah I'm coming." That was not Ms. Miller's voice.

The door is opened by Mick. . .at least that's what Danny is thinking when he sees a six foot tall, good looking guy in front of him who resembles Steve a bit, except that he seems a few years younger. "You're Mick?"

"Yeah? Who's asking?"

"Can we come in? I'm Detective Williams, Officer Weston."

"Yeah."

"Thank you." They follow Mick into the apartment where they also find Jinny.

"Ms. Miller?"

"Yeah. What's this about?"

"Were you at Joe's Grill and Bar yesterday?"

"Yeah. But our friends called and we left pretty much right away and went to Wiki's instead. Why do you want to know?"

"Can you tell me your name?" Danny asks, looking at Mick.

"Mick Douglas."

"Mr. Douglas, do you drive a blue Silverado?"

"Yeah. Why? What's going on?"

Danny fills them in about George Barns and that he went to the bar to get Mick for 'stealing' his girlfriend.

Mick looks at Jinny who moves closer to him. "I knew that guy was crazy. I'm sorry he's dead, but Jinny is safer that way. He was nuts."

Danny and Lori talk to them a few more minutes but it's clear that they don't know anything about what happened to Steve.

Back in their car, Lori is voicing what Danny was thinking, "Steve and Mick next to each other in the dark, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart. Add in the blue truck, and I think it's clear that George thought he had grabbed Mick. I don't think that he had any idea who he was kidnapping."

"No, but if that guy was able to kidnap a SEAL, than Steve must be seriously hurt," Danny adds, running his hand over his face. "We need to find him… and fast."

"Yeah, but how?"

"We take a look at George's home, maybe we can find a clue. Chin and Kono can take a look at George's car, maybe he used his GPS or something. Nobody just disappears without a trace, the kidnappers always leave something behind."

"Okay I'll call Kono."

With a plan in motion, once again, they are on their way.

H50 – H50 – H50

The next time Steve wakes up, he is shivering again, but instead of feeling cold he's also hot and his whole body is aching. His ankle is the worst, even worse than his head, which is still throbbing, but the agonizing pain from earlier has somewhat abated. Unfortunately, pain is pulsing through his ankle with each beat of his heart. He's pretty sure that the deep lacerations are infected by now. He checked it the last time he was awake and the deep cuts into the flesh right above his ankle almost made him gag. He would swear that he could see the bone, well probably not, but it sure feels like it. The cuffs are very tight, not as loose as on his wrists and are still cutting deeply into his by now very tender flesh.

There is a fresh puddle of blood under his foot and he's pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to walk on that ankle even if he was not chained to the darn pole. Even though he's feeling miserable he again tries to get his belt buckle to the back so that he can open it and get his hands in front of him. Seems that a clearer head was all it took to get the belt to move and it only takes him a minute to finally get his hands on the fastener. Now comes the hard part, to get his hands in front of him. Of course, that alone won't totally help him since he can't loop his arms completely in front of him because of the damn chain. But he can take a closer look at his leg and next time he needs to go, he can at least pull down his pants. He's willing to take even small victories at this point.

Getting his arms in front of him rattles the cuffs on his ankle and makes him cry out. He's pretty sure by now that his ankle is not just injured from the cuffs. Maybe it's a bad sprain but in all likelihood he's looking at a fracture. After some creative wiggling and twisting and more than a few choice words, he finally has his hands in front of him. Well, okay not really, because his right leg is still in the way.

He bends forward and pulls his pant leg up so that he has a clear view of the injury and what he sees is not encouraging. The cuffs are practically embedded in the flesh, and he knows he will be lucky if there is no nerve damage. The cuffs cut deep into the muscle, it's a bloody mess and it seems very clear that his ankle is broken. It looks like he was dragged along by his ankle, which would also explain the general pain he feels along his right leg. It's obvious that he won't walk on it anytime soon.

He takes a closer look at the pole, which is very sturdy and doesn't look like as if he could pull it out or break it, but he has to laugh when he looks at the lock of the chain. It's a very simple padlock and all he needs is something to hit it with or to use as a lever. There are some bricks lying around and one of them might be in his reach. Which means that he needs to get his hands back behind his back because that way his range will be a good bit longer.

With some difficulty he gets his hands back in position, crawls as far as the chain allows and tries to reach the brick. He can already feel it with his forehead but he can't get a handle on it. He moves a little bit more even though the pain in his ankle makes him gasp. This time he's able to move the brick sideways and with one more push he's able to get it closer. He scoots closer to the pole to take the pull off his leg and just lies on the ground panting and riding out the pain from his ankle and head that isn't taking all this activity very well.

A few minutes later he recovers enough to scoot back and with one more push gets the brick close enough that he can finally grab it and pulls it towards him. Next he gets his hands in front of him again, one twist around and he has the brick in his hand. Now he only needs to figure out a way to actually hit the padlock which is practically cuffed to his leg. The chain is about two feet long which doesn't give him enough room to get a lot of momentum to hit the lock. The second problem is that the lock is closer to his leg than the pole, and he needs to aim very carefully or he will smash his own ankle.

He aims and takes his first hit onto the padlock and almost passes out right there and then when the cuff gets jerked by the impact. _Yeah, definitely broken_. The padlock doesn't seem very impressed by the first hit. Steve aims again and this time he's prepared for the pain it causes. What he's not prepared for is being totally off with his aim with the third hit when he doesn't hit the padlock but the cuff instead. Not just the cuff but also his ankle. The pain only has a second to register before he falls back in a heap. Steve's unconscious before he even hits the ground, which prevents him from noticing that the padlock opened and his ankle is free of the chain.

H50 – H50 – H50


	5. Chapter 5 Getting closer

_**Thank you all so much again. You have no idea how happy I am, that you enjoy this little story.**_

_**Since I won't be able to post on the weekend as it was planned, you'll get the next chapter today. I hope you will enjoy it.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 05 – Getting closer<strong>

Steve wakes with a strong urge to puke. He's barely able to turn on to his side before the rest of the food he consumed so many hours ago comes back up. He has been nauseous for hours now, knowing it is a byproduct of the concussion, but up until now he was able to breathe through every wave that rolled through his stomach. But now with a fever from the infection and the intense pain from his ankle and head his body simply gives out on him.

A couple of minutes later he's reduced to dry heaves that last for another couple minutes before his upset stomach settles again. He rolls over to his right side, away from the mess he made and is for the first time aware that he's not chained to the post anymore.

"What the. . .wow."

Steve sits up carefully, pleasantly surprised not to get dizzy right away, although the pain in his head increases instantly. He takes off the padlock that is by now useless and carefully unloops the chain, freeing his cuffed leg from the pole.

Steve looks down at his cuffed hands and knows that there is no way to get out of them without the key or the right tools. This time the brick is useless. Time to take a good look at his injury and maybe do something about it. He can wiggle his toes but can't really move his ankle, it's way too painful. Steve highly doubts that the ankle will hold his weight but he's going to try anyway.

He slides over to the pole and grabs on to it, pulling with all his might to make his way into a vertical position. Holding onto the pole, Steve keeps his right foot off the ground and tries to get his bearings, while the world around him is in motion. He hopes the spinning will soon stop. Leaning against the metal beam, he closes his eyes and waits. It takes almost a full minute before he opens his eyes again. By now, his leg is trembling and his arms are getting tired from bearing much of his weight.

Now comes the moment of truth; he slowly puts his foot down. The pain shoots up to his knee and is incredible, but the ankle holds. _Maybe not broken after all._ After putting weight on the ankle for a while, he will probably scream in agony, but he thinks he will be able to walk. Well maybe not 'walk' but something that closely resembles walking.

Steve turns around to see which is the best way to get out of this lovely place; he decides to follow the breeze and starts to go in the direction the light wind is coming from. That movement was more than his ankle is actually capable of. While holding onto the pole, he could manage the pain, but when his full weight is placed on the injured leg, it gives out on the first step. With a thud and a curse, he crumbles to the floor.

_Walking is overrated anyway_. With determination, he begins to crawl. If walking doesn't work, he can go with Plan B. But he will make his way out of there.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Chin, Kono any findings from the car?" Danny and Lori decided to meet with their team mates first before they go to Barns' apartment.

"Well we looked through all the stuff in his car. We have hiking boots, just as wet as Steve's, so I guess he used them. We gave them to CSU hoping they can analyze the dirt on them or something." Chin looks at Danny, fully knowing that this is like grasping at straws. But he also knows that since Steve was not the intended target there really isn't any connection to Barns. And that means there is not much they can follow up on. Frustrated at the situation, Chin continues, "there is no GPS on the car and no way to know where he's been since he snatched Steve. We found some fingerprints and hope to get a match. Kono and I think that there must have been at least two people who took Steve out."

"Yeah, we phoned Mr. Daniels and he gave a list of Barns' friends. He said Barns hung out mostly with a local guy named Ukilani and he mentioned Ukilani's kind of mentally challenged. Daniels said he lives in a group home and he and Barns have been buddies since high school." Danny hopes that Dan Ukilani will bring them a step closer to finding Steve.

"He's mentally challenged but went to high school?"

"Daniels said something about a brain injury after an accident a few years ago. Kono, maybe you can find out more about that guy. Did you find anything else?"

"Yeah, Steve's gun and badge were in his truck, locked in the glove compartment. He must have taken it off when he left Joe's. Other than that, nothing interesting. But we did find blood and vomit in the back of Barns' van. Max told me the drug would knock anyone out in seconds and would leave the victim disoriented and confused for up to seventy two hours, depending on the amount that was given. So I assume Steve was unconscious in the back of the van, meaning his body reacted to the drug and his injuries without him being aware of it. That also leaves the possibility he could have suffered even more injuries due to vomiting." Chin looks at each of his friends while he sums up their findings.

"More injuries?" Lori asks.

"Choking is a high risk while unconscious, but even lying on your side, it is still possible to inhale some vomit. That can lead to all kind of lung complications, pneumonia being just one of them."

"Oh."

"Thousands of people die every year due to choking or inhaling their own vomit, often due to intoxication by alcohol or drugs or head injuries from accidents. Getting sick while unconscious is extremely dangerous, and if that happened, Steve could be in serious trouble by now."

"You almost sound like Steve," Danny told his friend, smiling at the thought. He would spout off those same statistics."

"Yeah, but this comes straight from Malia."

"Makes you think twice about getting drunk, huh?"

"Yeah, it does," Chin agrees with a nod. "Anyway, CSU processed the vomit and said it's a match to Steve's DNA. They were even able to tell the amount of drug likely to be in his system. Max said the quantity would put him out for at least three hours. That means that he came to at around one or two a.m., if he was not hurt more seriously by the accident." Chin tries to distance himself a little by sticking to the facts, it helps him to focus and not constantly thinking about that they are not looking for just any victim but for their friend.

"So best-case scenario: he's been awake for about twelve hours now and is probably working on an escape plan?" Danny looks at his three team members.

"Yeah. Let's hope so."

"Okay, so let's go and see what we can find at Barns' house. Chin, Kono when you're done here see what you can find out about Ukilani. We'll call as soon as we know anything new."

Danny and Lori again leave the cousins to go check Barns' apartment hoping to find some hints that will get them closer to their leader.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve discovered pretty soon that it's not easy to crawl with cuffed hands and a bum leg. Not to mention that his head is killing him. The pain forces him to stop after the first few feet. He lies down on his back hoping that the headache will at least abate a little bit, he's dizzy and every movement causes the room to shift somewhat. It makes him disoriented and he's no longer sure he's even crawling in the right direction.

While lying on the ground Steve contemplates his next course of action. If he leaves the shelter he will be out in the elements, not a good idea at night. He knows the sun will go down in a few hours. On the other hand it doesn't make much sense to just wait here. He thinks he should try to get out into the open. Maybe he'll get lucky and encounter some hikers.

After restoring some of his strength and getting his headache down to a bearable level, he again pushes himself off the ground. A few seconds later he reaches an opening that leads to a hallway. It's pretty clear now that this is some old bunker, probably from WWII. Since there are bunkers all over the island, that doesn't narrow down his location.

As a kid he played in some of them with his friends, at least until his dad found out. He was grounded for six long weeks and was not even allowed to go swimming. He hadn't talked to Mary for months after because she had ratted them out because the boys didn't want a little sister tagging along. Steve smiles at the memory of driving his mother crazy while being in the house the whole time. After four weeks, she couldn't take it any longer and his parents changed his sentence to probation. He's not sure if he would have survived the additional two weeks. After that he was a perfect little angel, that is until the next 'just too tempting to ignore adventure' called and nine-year old Stevie couldn't resist.

Steve looks both ways into the hallway and to his left finds his backpack. He can't really believe that he sees his phone lying next to it. He picks it up but there's no service. _No surprise there_. He checks his backpack and greedily opens the water bottle and one of the granola bars he finds inside. He's slightly hesitant to eat anything but knows that he needs to. He takes some sips from the water and a bite from the bar hoping his stomach will be able to handle it.

He rummages through his backpack and finds almost everything that was in his pockets, no gun or badge though. But his keys, climbing shoes and the medical kit are there. The keys are the most important find because he has a master-key for handcuffs on his key-chain, now he only hopes he can open them with it. He's almost overjoyed when the cuffs around his wrists snap open and next he begins to work on his ankle. Taking off the cuffs really hurts and when he takes his first good look at the deep cuts he almost gets sick again. He's seen his share of horrific injuries but looking at his own mangled ankle is something else.

The ankle is swollen and an angry red, the deep lacerations still oozing blood. Using part of the water he cleans the wounds as best he can then carefully wraps some gauze around it. Next he takes one of the ace bandages and wraps that around his ankle to give it more stability. That hurts the wounds but he will need the support to walk. He carefully puts his light climbing shoes on. The abrasions on his wrists are not that serious but he cleans and bandages them as well. He wonders where the painkillers and antibiotic cream went.

Now, he feels better with his injuries taken care of. Of course it also helps that he can finally move his arms again. He uses the wall to get to his feet, or rather, one foot and looks which way to go next. He shoulders the backpack and very carefully puts weight on his right leg. The first step is painful but at least he's not crumbling back to the floor like before. Limping heavily, he makes his way along the wall towards what he hopes is the exit from this maze.

H50 – H50 – H50

Chin and Kono are at the smart table in HQ, waiting for the search program to find Ukilani. They put all the information about him into the program and hope the database search will be able to find this mystery-friend of George Barns.

"Chin did you see that?"

"See what?"

"Do you have the search still running on Steve's phone?"

"Yeah it's still open, why?"

"There was a blip."

"A blip," Chin is looking at his cousin like she's lost her mind, a 'blip' is not really a technical term.

"Yeah like the phone was on for a second and then off again."

Chin turns to his GPS search and plugs in some data and to his astonishment he finds a search list. Steve's phone has been sending out signals in very short bursts for half an hour. Not enough data by far to pinpoint a location, but it shows them that his phone is back on.

"Let me try something," Chin says while furiously typing on the screen. A few seconds later there is a yellow dot on the map. "The last strong signal from the phone before it was turned off came from the KFVE-TV tower at the Nanakuli Forest Reserve."

"You think Steve might still be in the area?"

"I don't know Kono. But Barns' accident happened on Makahilo Drive heading north, which leads to the station. I think that's our best lead so far, but we should take a closer look, check out how accessible it is by car. We can assume that Steve was unconscious; Barns would not have been able to carry him for a long period of time. We need to call Danny and see if they got anything from Barns' apartment. You got a location for Ukilani yet?"

"Not yet."

"Okay keep on it, I'll call Danny."

A few minutes later Chin and Danny agree to meet at HQ after they talk to Ukilani, if they can find him, and after Danny and Lori are finished with the apartment where they'd just arrived.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve's progress is slow and painful; his right leg begins trembling after just five minutes. He's not even out of the bunker yet, and still he needs to stop. He looks around and asks himself once again where he is. He was so sure he was going the right way to the exit but somehow he ended back up where he started. He sits down and leans against the wall, utterly confused. A minute ago he was clear headed and now he's not even sure what to do.

The world around him is spinning and he's not able to stay on his feet, frustrated that he ended up where he started. _How the fuck did I get here?_ Steve can't remember anything after he left HQ to meet with his friends. He knows that he could remember it earlier but now it's just all really foggy and he has no idea what happened. _Danny wants space. Where did that come from? You embarrass him. What? No he said it's not that, he said. . .I don't remember what he said. Shut up, concentrate on now._

Steve shakes his head and hauls himself back to his feet. _I need to get out of here_. He puts his foot down carefully and, he will deny it, but the sounds he makes seem an awful lot like whimpering. Again he starts his trek along the wall to get to the exit in the hope to make it out this time around.

H50 – H50 – H50

Before Chin and Kono find Ukilani, he finds them, well sort of. They get a phone call from HPD and seeing that it is Sgt. Duke Lukela, Chin puts him on speaker. "Duke, what can I do for you?"

"Chin, twenty minutes ago Dan Ukilani came into the precinct wanting to talk to someone. You need to get over here now."

"Okay Duke. We're on our way. Don't let him leave."

"Don't worry he's not leaving, he's unhinged; his friend really did a number on him. Hurry up, I called social services and they're sending someone for him."

"Thanks, Duke. See you in a few."

It only takes a few minutes to meet with Duke who leads them to the interrogation room where they meet with Bill Thomas.

"Mr. Thomas, I'm Lt. Kelly, this is Officer Kalakalaua. What's your relation to Dan Ukilani?"

"I'm Dan's legal Guardian. Dan has the mind of a five-year old, he can't live on his own or make any legal decisions. Basically he's a minor. He doesn't have any family, they died in the car crash. And he's a friend. I'm here to help, Dan is a good kid and I can't imagine that he's done anything wrong."

"Let's talk to him," Chin leads the way into the room where Dan Ukilani sits at the table looking like a scared child. It's a strange sight because he has the body of a thirty year old athlete.

"Billy! I didn't mean to hurt him," Dan instantly cries out, jumping up and rushing into Bill Thomas' arms.

"Shhhh, it's okay Dan, tell us what happened. Come here, sit down and don't be scared; they won't hurt you."

"Okay," he doesn't let go of Bill's hand but seems to calm down.

"Dan, I'm Chin and this is Kono and Duke. Would you sit down and tell us what happened?"

"I didn't mean to hurt him. George did that, I told him I didn't want to do it and that it's not right."

"Dan, can you start from the beginning and explain what happened?"

"George picked me up in his van and said that we need to pick someone else up. You were there too," he says, pointing to Chin and Kono. "George said we had to wait until he was alone so we followed his car and then suddenly George drove right into his car. The blue truck hit the guard rail, it was really loud. Then we stopped and got out of the car. The man was hurt, his head was bleeding but he was trying to get out of the truck and George stuck him with a needle and then he was asleep. George told me to help put him in the van. I told him no because he needs a doctor but George said it was okay, that we would take him to a doctor. So I helped him and then George said I should drive the car to the next rest area and wait for him. I can still drive a car," he said it very proudly but added quietly, "but I'm not allowed to. Am I in trouble now?"

"No, Dan you're not in trouble. What happened next?"

"I stopped at the rest area and waited. I got in the back of the van and I got there just in time. We learned all about it in the first aid class. What to do and all, when someone gets sick. The man was throwing up and was shaking but he was still sleeping. But I made sure that he was not choking and that he didn't hurt himself and I cleaned him up and made him comfortable when he stopped shaking, but I couldn't wake him up. He didn't look mean at all, he looked really nice, but George said he was mean, but I don't believe that

"No, Dan he's not mean, he's a really, really good guy and he's our friend. He needs our help. What happened next?"

"George came back and drove me to the next bus stop. I told him that he needs to drive the man to a hospital and he said he would take care of him. Then he drove off."

"Do you know where he went?"

"No. He wanted to meet me this morning at our parking spot, he promised to take me hiking."

"Dan and George often hike out from the KFVE-TV tower-parking lot," Bill explains. "George and Dan are good friends but lately I worry about George. Ever since his new 'girlfriend' he has been a bit aggressive, but never with Dan."

"George is my friend. That's why I helped him."

"Dan can you tell us where you normally go hiking with George?" Kono hopes that they can narrow down the possible locations.

"Yeah to the outlook. It's awesome up there and the bunkers are really great, too. Oh, I shouldn't tell you that. We're not supposed to go into them. But George didn't come and then later I thought I should tell someone about the accident. I didn't mean to hurt that man, I'm sorry."

"Dan, you were a big help, thank you. Don't worry, with your help we'll find our friend. Thank you for coming to us." Chin knows that there is no way anyone would punish Dan Ukilani for what he did and he had no desire to do so himself. "You have to stay here for a little while longer, but Bill will stay with you and Duke will take your statement, okay?"

"Okay. I'm not in trouble?"

"No, Dan I don't think so." Chin highly doubts that the DA will charge him with anything.

They say their good bye to the little group and are on their way to their car when Chin reaches Danny on the phone, "Danny, I know where Steve is." He relays the story they just heard and they agree to meet at the TV station's parking lot.

H50 – H50 – H50


	6. Chapter 6 Rescue

_**Thank you all so much for reading, alerting and of course reviewing. I'm sorry that there were some difficulties with opening the new chapter. I have no idea why that was. And for some reason, I was not able to answer your reviews. I didn't mean to ignore anyone. It just didn't work, but the problem seems to be solved.**_

_**Again thank you to Cokie316 and Sherry57.**_

_**Now on with the story.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 06 – Rescue<br>**

Steve hasn't a clue how long it took him to finally reach the end of the tunnel. He's been following the dim light at the end of what felt like a mile long passageway but what was really not even fifty feet. When Steve reaches the stairs at the end he's ready to drop again but he fights the feeling and makes his way up the few steps out of the bunker. Midway he needs to halt his ascent though; he's dizzy, nauseous and completely disoriented. He sits down on the steps with a heavy thud and leans back, closing his eyes hoping to get rid of the dizziness.

The pain in his head had intensified with every step he took and reached a level where he just wanted to close his eyes and give in to the darkness that is beckoning him. But instead of giving up he fumbles his cellphone out and takes a look at it, but again there is no service. It's clear to Steve that he won't make it out of the woods, literally, on his own. His concussion is too severe to stay on his feet for longer than a few minutes at a time and he's not sure how much longer his burning ankle will hold up. He needs help. But to get help he needs to move to higher ground or down to the parking lot. Steve's now pretty sure he knows where he is; and thinks he might be able to find his way back to civilization.

His chances of meeting someone on the way down to the parking lot are better, although higher up at the lookout he would have better reception. For a minute he wonders how odd it is that he's not getting any cell service with the tower so close by. One last look at his cell phone shows him that the battery is almost down so he turns it off to save the last energy for another try closer to the parking lot.

Again he uses the wall to get back onto his feet and makes the last few steps up to level ground. Out of the underground bunker the wind is strong and his wet clothes only intensify the cold. It's not helping much that he's running a fever, although he is shivering violently and feels frozen to the bone.

Steve has great difficulty tuning out the burning pain in his ankle and can't keep every groan from slipping out. He can only stay on his feet for a few minutes before he falls again. He loses his footing and crashes to the ground, hitting his hip on probably the only darn stone on the whole way down. In his weakened and exhausted state, the white hot pain shooting into his hip is enough to send him over the edge and into blissful unconsciousness. He doesn't even register that his head started bleeding when the wound on his head opened again from the fall.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Mom I'm really glad that we could do this again before I leave. I will miss our hiking."

"I'll miss the hikes and I will miss you," Katie Delgardo agrees with her almost nineteen year old son, who will fly out tomorrow to attend UCLA. She will miss her oldest son fiercely but is proud that he was offered a scholarship. Of course she would rather him stay in Hawaii but a full scholarship is not something one can pass up. It will be hard for him to start in the middle of the semester but she is sure that he will catch up.

"Mom, can we go to the lookout before we head home?" Tom Delgardo looks at his mother and hopes that she will agree on it for their last hiking trip for quite some time.

"Yeah, let's head up there, as long as it's not raining again. If so we should head home."

The two hikers set course to the lookout and will soon cross paths with Steve McGarrett.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Ah damn it, Mike watch it!" Lucy, the nurse currently responsible for admissions in the ER at Hawaii Medical Center West jumps back when her colleague drops his coffee mug all over her desk. "Just great!" Lucy mutters, while trying to keep the damage to a minimum. "Now I have to print all this stuff again. Thanks a lot Mike."

"Sorry Lucy, here let me help you." Mike gathers all the soiled papers and throws them in the trash. If he would look down he'd see the face of Lt. Cmdr. Steve McGarrett looking up from the bottom of the trash can. But as it is, the alert shares the fate of the Commander, it disappears.

"Can you hold down the fort for a few minutes? I need to get the reports again." Lucy looks at her young intern who has been at her station for only a week now. He's actually a bright young man even though he is a bit clumsy.

"Yeah sure and I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, I'll be back soon." Knowing that he'll manage on his own for a while, she's on her way to get copies of all the soiled reports.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve's not sure where he's heading. His vision is swimming in and out of focus and he finds it very hard to walk in a straight line. _You call this walking?_ He has to laugh a little because what he's doing is really not walking. Steve has given up keeping track of how many times he has fallen down in the last half hour. He's heavily limping, aided by the new source of pain. The fierce pain from his bruised hip is radiating down his leg and seems to meet along the way with the agony from his ankle.

The fire burning in his ankle and lower leg is almost all consuming and he has a hard time concentrating on anything other than the intense pain which intensifies tenfold with each step he takes. A few times he had to stop moving altogether because he had suddenly no idea what he was doing or where he was. His head is spinning and he's hearing voices. One voice more precisely. Danny is almost constantly talking to him, telling him 'not to call him'. And no matter how often Steve shouts back that he got it, Danny's not shutting up and it is driving Steve nuts. In his clearer moments he's aware that he's hallucinating but only until Danny starts yelling again.

He takes another step down the path that leads to the parking lot, or at least he thinks it does, when he steps on a loose little rock, twists his ankle, loses his footing and can't stop himself from falling down again. The impact is hard. A sharp pain stabs into his elbow, when he tries to break his fall with his outstretched arm. The wind is knocked out of him and his already concussed brain can't take the blow when his head hits the ground. It only takes a couple of seconds before Steve passes out from pain, exhaustion and the remains of the drug in his system, in addition to the severe concussion he received last night.

H50 – H50 – H50

Tom and Katie are making good time; they're walking up the path to the lookout and are about half a mile from their car when they both stop in their tracks. Just a few feet from them lies a person in the middle of the trail, obviously unconscious and hurt.

"Mom, be careful." Tom is looking at his mother who is gently turning the stranger onto his side.

"He's burning up," she's checking his pulse and can feel the heat radiating off of him. "His pulse is pretty strong but really fast. Tom help me get his back pack off. And Call 911."

After helping his mother settle the man on his back with his head resting on his back pack, he gets his phone out. "There's no service. You want me to go down to the parking lot and call for help?"

Before she can answer the man opens his eyes, "Sir, can you hear me? What's your name? Can you tell me what happened?"

"St—Steve."

"Okay Steve, you remember what happened?" While she's asking him she gives him some sips out of her water bottle. "No, not too much or you'll get sick, drink slowly." Katie is doing a quick check for any broken bones or serious injuries and is not happy to find a severely injured ankle and what seems to be a dislocated right elbow. "Steve did you fall while climbing?"

"No. . .I. . .can't remember. . .head hurts," Steve is on the brink of slipping back into unconsciousness.

"Do you think you can get up if we help you? It's about half a mile down to the parking lot, we have no cell service up here. Steve can you do that, can you get up?"

"Think. . .so."

It's a real struggle to get the tall, injured man onto his feet, but Tom is a strong young man and is able to carry most of Steve's weight. Katie immobilizes the injured right arm by tucking his hand into the waistband of the wet cargo pants. She grabs him at his belt and they start their slow descent to the parking lot just as the rain starts to pound down on them again.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve just wants to stop, _please just STOP_. He's aware that his begging is only in his head, because he just doesn't have the energy to voice his plea. His ankle and leg are engulfed in such intense pain that he'd bet his whole leg is burning in a white hot flame. If he'd had enough air in his lungs he would scream but he can't even do that anymore.

_Danny does enough screaming for the both of us_, or at least that's what Steve's thinking. The voice in his head is so incredibly loud, so unbearably painful that he just wants it to end. _Please just stop, all of it, just stop, please_. Of course no one hears his silent screams of agony or his silent pleas to help him. He's more or less a dead weight, carried almost completely by Tom Delgardo, who does a great job keeping the taller man on his feet.

"Steve we're almost there, we'll get you help, so hang in there. Tom, I don't think we can wait for an ambulance. He's burning up, he's even hotter than before."

"C-cold," Steve says, not feeling any warmth. _What's she talking about, it's so damn cold_.

"It's okay Steve, we're going to call for help."

"NO! Please. . .no. . .don't call Danny," his confused brain can only think about the voice in his head that is hammering into him not to call Danny.

"It's okay Steve, it's okay. Calm down, we won't call Danny. I promise we won't call Danny. Tom, be careful and watch his head." They are by their van now and lowering Steve carefully onto the back seat.

"Mom, we shouldn't transport him ourselves, we should call for an ambulance."

"I know. Do you have cell service? I hope they get that damn tower running sometime soon." Katie looks at her own phone. . .her pretty much useless phone without any reception.

"No. I guess we don't have a choice then. You wanna sit in the back with him?"

"Yeah."She's already getting into the van and takes a seat across from Steve who's lying on his left side and seems to be unconscious again. She grabs one of her kids' stuffed bears and places it under Steve's head to make him a little more comfortable. She wishes she had a blanket to cover him with, that would help with his violent shivering.

A few minutes later they are on the main street and on their way to the nearest hospital.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny Williams is furious. After making their way through the heavy rain and up the treacherous path, they found the location Steve had been held captive at; but no sign of Steve. Well that's not true; there were a lot of signs that Steve was there a few hours ago. Neither one of them will soon forget the sight that greeted them upon entering the bunker.

They found the pole, the blood on the floor, the chain, the bloody handcuffs and the vomit. It paints a pretty clear and gruesome picture for them.

"This is so cruel putting him through something like this again. He was just captured and tortured. This must be so hard on him, not just the physical aspect of it, I'm talking about the toll that it will have on his mind." Lori is looking around her and shudders at the sight in front of her. She had not seen the scenario in North Korea, she didn't see the chains hanging from the ceiling, didn't see the blood spatter under it, didn't see Jenna's dead body. She can only imagine how hard it must be for Chin and Danny to see a similar sight now.

"This is different, he'll be fine." Danny doesn't really believe it, but it's the only thought keeping him from going crazy. "We're pretty sure that Barns worked alone. Max didn't find any injuries on his hands that would suggest that he had hit anyone, so we can assume that Steve was at least not beaten. He most likely suffered some injuries from the car crash and it looks like he made it out of here on his own." That is not really a consolation because they have no idea where their friend is or in what condition he might be. The K9 unit is still not available and the storm will soon be too severe to keep looking. None of them wants to leave Steve out in the rain but soon they won't have another option.

"Detective! We think we found his tracks, looks like he's heading down to the parking lot."

They all make their way out of the bunker and look at the imprints in the wet ground. They all know they won't find footprints much longer with the torrential rain that has been again falling for half an hour.

"Let's follow the trail as long as we can." Chin needs to raise his voice to be heard over the heavy rain that has intensified in the last five minutes. "I hope he was able to stay on the path."

"What do you mean? Why would he leave the path to the parking lot," Danny is looking at his friend questionably. He managed not to slip on the muddy path since they left the bunker, but can imagine that it must be difficult for an injured person to do so. He hopes Chin is just thinking along the same lines.

"Max said that the drug will really mess with him. The drug has only been in his system for 18 hours; it will still have its full effect. He will have bouts of disorientation, dizziness, hallucinations. He might not even know where he is or where he's going, in fact, he might not have any idea who _he_ is. It's very possible that he will try to hide instead of seeking help. We can't be sure at all that he's on his way to safety." Chin grabs on to Lori just in time keeping her from falling head-first into the mud. She smiles her thanks at him, even though she already looks like a drowned rat.

"Shit. Anything else we need to know that Max didn't tell us," Danny is angry, but he knows that he's being unfair, it's not Max's or Chin's fault. If anyone is to blame, it's him, it's his fault that his friend was alone and got snatched by a crazy person. _How fucked up can this get? Steve survived years in the SEALs, was captured and rescued from WoFat but gets killed, oh god don't even go there, by a deranged boyfriend who wasn't even after Steve._

"It's nobody's fault," Kono calmly tells him, obviously reading his mind, "least of all yours. We were in that damn parking lot before he left and we didn't see a thing. Steve drove off before us and we didn't see anyone following him. I didn't pay any attention to it. You were not even there, Danny."

"Yeah, but that's exactly the point. .!"

"STOP it, all of you!" Lori yells at them over the rain and wind. "This is not helping Steve at all. We need to concentrate on finding him. Stop blaming yourselves. Steve wouldn't want that. Focus, that's what he'd tell you, so FOCUS."

Danny looks at the newest team-member. "You're right. Chin! I'm sorry. . .I. . .it's just. . ."

"It's okay Danny. We're all worried," the older man said, understanding how the guilt is slowly eating up his friend. Danny is always good with words and has no problem telling everyone in length what he's thinking about this or that. Although this time it seems that he pretty much fucked up his conversation with Steve. His choice of words must have been pretty bad for him to be so distressed and Steve looking so hurt. But he knows that they will work it out.

"Guys look at this," one of the men from the SAR-team motions them over, to look at something on the ground.

When they get closer they can see that it's a huge, flat stone in the middle of the otherwise muddy path. What's disturbing is the blood that is still visible despite the rain that's doing a good job washing it away. It must have been quite a lot of blood judging by the pink watery puddles on the uneven surface.

"What is this?" Danny looks at the team.

"It's part of the bunker system, in some places the construction is visible. We're actually still walking on top of the bunkers. This looks like someone stumbled over the edge and was bleeding on the concrete."

"That must have been Steve. If the blood is still visible after all this rain, it can't have been too long since he was here."

"There are no more tracks to follow, I don't see any imprints beyond this point. We need more men, we can follow this path to the parking lot but I don't think that we will find him this way. We should have seen him when we came up here. He was not on the trail then. How could he be now?" Officer Forbes points out the obvious. They will need more men to help with the search.

"Maybe he was hiding, he might be scared and was avoiding us." Danny thinks about what Chin told them about the effects of the drug.

"It's very likely that he was not even able to follow the path beyond this point. The blood indicates a bleeding head wound. That will add to his confusion from the drug. We all assume that he's awake, because he's a tough SEAL, but that might very well not be the case." Chin hates to be the one wording the grim possibilities, but they simply can't assume that Steve is helping in their goal to find him.

"What if someone found him and has taken him to a hospital already?" Kono asks, knowing that the likelihood of that is very slim.

"We would have been informed because the alert for him went out to all hospitals. We need to keep looking for him; he has to be here somewhere." Danny rubs his hand over his face while looking at the jungle around him. He knows that without more men and the K9 unit, Steve will be very difficult to find.

H50 – H50 – H50


	7. Chapter 7 Taken care of

**You know, Peter Lenkov was right, when he said the promo pics for 2x16 would put a smile on everyone's face who likes Cath and Steve. I was grinning all day after seeing them.**

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><p><em><strong>Thank you all again so much for reading. <strong>_

_**I updated my profile, you might like to check it out. If you like to know what's coming up next.**_

_**And now on with the story.**_

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><p><strong>AN:** In December, the Hawaii Medical Center West and East were closed. The Medical Center West had the only Transplant Center of Hawaii, and it will take months before Queens Medical can provide that service. On the site of Hawaii News Now you can find all the information about this dire situation that affects many patients waiting for a transplant. Many of them need to move to the mainland to have the chance for a transplant and moving is something a lot of people simply can't do. There is a report on that issue also on their site that shows very clearly that it is not always a good thing to live on an island.

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><p><strong>Chapter 7 – Taken care of<strong>

_**Hawaii Medical Center West**_

_**Saturday around four p.m.**_

"I need help here!" Katie Delgado yells from the entrance of the ER at Hawaii Medical Center West. She and a young man are trying to hold up a tall man who seems only semiconscious. The young man has one of the injured man's arms around his shoulder, and the woman is helping holding him up by his belt.

They look like they were caught in the rainstorm that was howling until a few moments ago, the woman and the young man are wet but don't seem to be hurt. The man, however, is not just wet but his clothes are also covered in blood and mud. They can see a head wound and bloody bandages on his ankle and wrists, and his right hand is tucked under his belt obviously to immobilize the arm.

"Mike, we need a gurney." Lucy approaches the trio not waiting for Mike to answer her; she knows that he will get what she needs for the patient. "What happened?"

"We don't know; we found him while we were hiking. All we know is that his name is Steve. I think he fell while climbing, he has a lot of bruises, and his ankle looks really bad like he caught the rope with it or something." Katie is glad to help the stranger lay down on the gurney that Mike just rolled in.

"Let's get him into. . . well, this isn't easy. We just got a lot of injured people from a bus accident," Lucy thinks for a minute, "okay let's get him into trauma two."

"But that one's closed because the exam-table broke." Mike is reminding his superior.

"We don't need the table; he's already on a gurney. We have nothing else free so let's move there and see that you can get a doctor, any doctor will do."

For the first-time Katie looks around the small ER and can see that the whole area is one busy zone. It looks like organized chaos, and it's clear that the ER has reached its limit. Dozens of people are sitting around waiting to be treated, but they all have to wait because of the injured people from the bus accident that were brought in.

"We received only the minor cases. The more severe ones were taken to Queens, but we still have our hands full," Lucy answers the unspoken question. "Mike, stay at the desk while I take a look at Steve, and please get me a doctor."

Mike watches Lucy and directs Katie and Tom to his desk at admissions. He will take their names and contact information in case anyone needs to talk to them again.

"We will give your information to Steve, so he can thank you for your help."

"If it's okay we like to wait for word on him. Mom is that okay?"

"You want to wait here?"

"Yeah. Mom, I know him from somewhere. I just don't know from where. Maybe if I wait here a little longer it will come to me. I really would like to stay."

"If you want to, we'll stay. If you need us, we'll be in the waiting area if that's okay."

"Yeah sure, Mrs. Delgardo. Vending machines are across from the waiting area. The coffee's not any good, but our cafeteria has some decent coffee and a good selection of tea."

"Thank you," the Delgardos make their way straight to the cafeteria. After being caught in the rain, a hot beverage sounds like a really good idea right about now.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Steve. Steve, can you hear me? Come on open your eyes for me," Lucy is looking down at the shivering patient and tries not only to get him to help her get his wet clothes off but also to answer her questions.

However, she only gets some mumbled gibberish, so she cuts his clothes off, starting with his shirt. Next his pants and underwear are gone. Covers him up with a warm blanket and marvels at the cuts and bruises all over his body. She can see that he's in top shape, and his whole body is well defined.

She's just finished when Dr. Dennis Brill enters. "What, you're the only one available?"

"Oh, come on Lucy, you're the one always telling me we men are just overgrown kids," her husband, who's also the pediatrician in the ER tells her with a grin. "So what do you have here?"

"His name is Steve but that is all I know about him. He was found on a hiking trail; he's in and out of consciousness, temp is 103, BP 100 over 50, pulse 130," Dennis frowns at the vitals, "bleeding head injury, his ankle injury is infected, his right elbow seems very painful, and he has contusions and abrasions all over his body."

While Lucy was listing her gathered information, her husband was checking the patient, but was unable to rouse him enough to talk to him. "Okay, I want X-Rays of his ankle and lower leg, that doesn't look good, his right hip and elbow, and I want a CT of his head. Can you call up and ask how long we have to wait?"

While Lucy is calling to see if they can bring him up, Dennis cleans the head wound and bandages it, stitches will be done by a surgeon, if necessary. He curses as he takes off the gauze Lucy put on the ankle after removing the old bandage. "This needs to be flushed out in the OR, it's really very deep and has a lot of dirt in it. It's already badly infected. What the hell happened to his ankle?"

Dr. Brill hangs a broad-band-antibiotic next to the saline solution Lucy already started on their patient.

"Danny."

They both almost jump when they hear their patient for the first time, "Steve, can you hear me?"

"Danny?"

"Who is Danny, do you want us to call him?" Dennis Brill is leaning closer down to his patient.

"NO! He. . .wants space. . .doesn't want me. . .," Steve is not really awake and they have to listen very closely to understand him.

"Steve, did Danny do this to you, was he with you? Did he hit you?"

"What? No. . .he wanted. . .to be alone. . .didn't want me. . ." Steve closes his eyes again, it's clear that he's exhausted and not able to keep it up any longer.

"Steve? – He's out again. You think we're talking about domestic abuse here?" Dr. Brill looks at his wife.

"Somehow he doesn't look like someone who would get beaten up by a spouse."

"Yeah, well but look at all these faded bruises, he was beaten and not just recently. You know as well as I do that with domestic violence, the physical strength of the victim is not the important factor. You have any idea how many men get beaten by wives half their size? If we're not looking at a case of a beating by a boyfriend, who do you think Danny is?"

"I don't know Dennis; you want to call the police and report an assault?"

"I'm not sure. I mean we don't know anything yet. Let's wait a few more hours and let's talk to him first before we call the cops. Are there any reports about missing persons?"

"Not in the last twenty-four hours and before that, nothing that would fit him."

"Does he have a phone with him?"

"Yeah, I already checked. Battery is dead. We could charge it but if it's password protected it won't do us much good."

"Charge it anyway, maybe he can use it. Lucy, when can we get him to radiology? I want to check his head as soon as possible?"

"Another twenty minutes. In the meantime, I will clean him up some more and clean his wrists."

"Okay, call me when he's back down. Are we still on for tonight, dinner at Tony's?"

"Of course. Can you check at the front desk on your way out to see if a report for this guy came in?"

"Yeah sure, see you later," Dr. Brill replies, leaving is wife and the unusual patient, for the time being.

H50 – H50 – H50

An hour later Lucy pages her husband while she is prepping her patient for his visit to the OR where is ankle wound will be cleaned and dressed. It's already infected and the OR is the best place to wash all the dirt and grime out of the bone deep gashes.

"Lucy, how does it look," Dennis greets his wife and takes a look at the X-Rays. "Huh."

"What?"

"Well, Robert already called me and said that they will set his elbow in the OR, it's dislocated but he should be fine without complications. The bone tissue at his ankle is slightly injured. Robert will take a closer look at that and hopes to avoid any inflammation of it. His hip bone is not injured, but the area is badly bruised; he was lucky. His CT is clear, no bleeding or swelling, but he has a severe concussion for sure. However, that's not what I'm worried about."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there are not just his almost faded bruises but there are a lot of old fractures. His tibia and femur have been broken, his forearm, some ribs and his pubic bone. And they only x-rayed his right side. I'm talking about twenty-five to thirty-year-old fractures. That means they happened at an early age, five to ten years old."

"What are you saying? That he was beaten as a child?"

"I don't know, but I have seen so many of these injuries in small children that they practically scream abuse. I know I know I'm biased because I'm a pediatrician, but because of that I can see the signs. You know that a lot of abused children never break the circle of violence and end up in an abusive relationship where they are the victim again. His recent injuries indicate abuse."

"But Dennis, most likely he was in a climbing accident, look at his shoes; they're for climbing. And his ankle looks like the rope caught it, and he was hanging from it. Maybe you just see what you want to see, what you're trained to see in children? But he's an adult, not a five-year-old that was rough handled by his overwhelmed parents," she just finished up with the general prep for the 'surgery'. "You want a Foley?"

"I sure don't but _he_ needs one; we need to watch his kidneys. He's severely dehydrated."

"Okay. You're going to call the cops?"

"Not today, they can't talk to him anyway for at least another twenty-four hours. I checked the system as you asked but there was nothing in it."

"Yeah it's still lagging behind a day or so, no idea when they are going to fix it. But we get new alerts by fax, so far none for him."

"Okay good, I'm going to give Doug Heller a call and ask him to try to talk to Steve in the morning if he's awake by then. I mean we still only know his first name, hopefully we'll know more when he wakes up."

Lucy finishes up with Steve and looks after him until he's picked up by a colleague who will take him up to the OR.

Whatever his story might be, for now he's safe and well taken care of, and that is the most important thing at the moment.

H50 – H50 – H50


	8. Chapter 8 Finally !

_**Thank you all so much for reading and for your patience. I'm really happy that you seem to enjoy this little story.**_

_**Again my thanks to Cokie316 for her incredible insight and to Sherry57 for fine tuning the grammar.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 08 – Finally !<strong>

Tom Delgardo is sitting across from his mother thinking about the man they found a couple of hours ago. He's so sure he has seen him before, but he just doesn't know where. Tom was hoping that it would come to him if he stayed a little longer at the hospital but so far no epiphany about the stranger.

"Mom?"

"Tom, do you remember him?"

"No. I think this is useless. You wanna go home?"

"We could wait for a little longer if you think it would help you remember where you know him from."

"I don't think it will help. Maybe it's better if I stop thinking about it. Let's get home, mom."

Tom and Katie make their way out of the hospital into the early evening of Tom's last Saturday in Hawaii.

H50 – H50 – H50

Terry O'Reilly is checking the vitals of her patient who was just transferred from the ICU to this private room. It took all night before he could be transferred out of the ICU. His BP dropped while still in recovery, and it took a while until they could stabilize it. She watches her sleeping patient and tucks the blanket around him, careful not to put any pressure on the thick bandages on his elevated right leg. She makes sure that his splinted arm is in a comfortable position. A dislocated elbow is a painful injury and she doesn't want him to wake up to any pain from his arm.

She untangles the IV line with the saline, antibiotics and pain medication and checks the various tubes and wires attached to him. All the while, her patient sleeps on, completely oblivious to all the gentle prodding and probing.

Satisfied with her work and the gathered vitals, she leaves the patient to rest. The recordings of his vitals are connected to the nurse station, so she will know immediately when he shows signs of waking up.

Her next task will be entering his stats into the system. They have decided to add him into the missing person database since they still weren't able to talk to him.

Terry opens the program that will send her data to HPD and on a whim checks the incoming reports first and almost falls from her chair when 'Steve' is looking at her from the screen. The official picture of one Lieutenant Commander Steven J. McGarrett, Head of Five-0, missing for thirty four hours of which he spent the last sixteen in this hospital doesn't resemble her patient much; looks way too serious in that photo but there is no doubt in her mind that 'Steve' is the missing Commander. _Shit._ She picks up the phone and dials the number on the screen.

H50 – H50 – H50

The Five-0's have been back at their HQ for a couple of hours. Even knowing that they couldn't do anything more last night, they were very reluctant to go home. After spending a day looking for their missing friend, they are still not closer to finding him than they were almost twelve hours ago. Malia met them at HQ an hour ago and brought food and coffee, but none of them enjoyed the breakfast. They're all thinking about Steve, who's still out there.

"I know you all want to go back out, but you're no help to Steve if you don't look after yourselves. It was the right thing to go home and rest last night." Malia sees that her friends are beyond worried about their leader. She knows they all are very close, but Danny especially is taking it very hard. Something more than worry is eating at him.

"Danny, are you all right? Sorry that was not the best choice of words, but something is bothering you. Can we help?" Chin also picked up on Danny's mood; he knows they're all worried but Danny is really down.

Danny finally looks up and what they see in his eyes makes them almost gasp. Guilt and sorrow are so clearly written in them as if it was tattooed on his forehead. "Do you know what some of my last words to Steve were? I said, 'I needed a break from him; I needed space; I didn't want to see him this weekend, that I didn't want him to meet my friends from Jersey'. I feel like an ass, how could I have been so stupid to hurt my best friend like that?"

"Steve told us, and yes we could see he was hurt, but also that he trusts you, he said 'Danny has a good reason, and he will tell me on Monday'. Danny it will be okay. Sometimes we do things without really thinking them through. Steve is your friend, and he will understand whatever your reason was." Chin looks at his younger friend and knows that no words will bring him any comfort as long as Steve is not found.

"Yeah, you see that is the problem, I'm an idiot. I didn't want him to meet my 'friends' because I'm embarrassed about them. I know that's bad, but my best friend thinks I'm embarrassed about _him_. Knowing that moron, he probably even thinks it's somehow his fault."

They all have to smile a little about the moron part, but before they can say anything else Danny's phone rings. It's lying on the table and seeing that it's an unknown number, he puts it on speaker, "Williams."

"Detective Williams?"

"Yes, who is this?"

"My name is Terry O'Reilly, and I'm a nurse at Hawaii Medical Center West. I'm calling about Steve McGarrett."

"Is he there?" Danny instantly gets his hopes up, and he can see that the others are listening intently too.

"Ah, well I think so."

"You think so?"

"Detective, let me explain please, yesterday afternoon 'Steve' - that's all we knew about him – was brought in by some hikers who found him. He was in and out of consciousness and was not really coherent. At that time, the ER was really busy, he was treated and had surgery and spent the night in the ICU. He just arrived on my station. When he came in yesterday, we checked the system, but he was not in it at the time. I just found out and called you right away."

"He's been at the hospital since yesterday?"

"Yes, since around four p.m."

They look at each other and can't believe that their friend was lying in a hospital bed safe and sound for the last sixteen hours while they were worried sick and traipsing through the jungle to find him.

"How is he, you said he had surgery?"

"Dr. Heller will tell you all about that. I'm not at liberty to tell you. Can you stay on the line for a moment please?" They can hear some talking in the background, probably Terry explaining what is going on, and then they have a man on the line, "Detective Williams? Danny Williams?"

"Yeah, I'm Danny Williams."

"I'm Dr. Heller. I think it is better if we talk in person about your situation."

"What? My situation? Is Steve all right? What is going on?"

"I'm sorry detective, but my first priority is my patient, and it is my job to protect him, sometimes even from his partner."

"Protect him? He's my partner and he was missing, tell. . ."

"Danny," Chin is intervening, "Dr. Heller, we will be there shortly and meet with you." Before the doctor can say anything else Chin ends the call.

"What was that all about and why did you do that?"

"Danny, calm down. He was not going to tell you anything. For whatever reason, it sounds like he thinks you're a threat to Steve. Let's go there and see what's going on. Malia, could you come with us please?"

"Yes, of course," she is looking at Danny and has a sneaking suspicion what this is all about. She's debating to 'prepare' Danny for what is most likely going to happen if Steve was still not able to clear some things up. "Wait!"

"What? Malia what is it?" Chin looks at his wife, wow, that is a word he still needs to get used to.

"Steve has many bruises in various stages of healing all over his body. He took a severe beating at the hands of Wo Fat and most of them are still somewhat visible. He has a lot of other old injuries he sustained over the years. We all know more or less how he sustained them, but a doctor without his medical file could come to a completely different conclusion." Malia looks at Danny to see if he understands her reasoning. "I don't know what his actual injuries are at the moment, but I think Dr. Heller is trying to protect Steve from more abuse until he can correctly assess the situation. I guess Steve was in a state of semi-consciousness at some point and might have mentioned your name, maybe just Danny or Danno. Max said that he would be confused and disoriented, who knows what he told them? That combined with his injuries led them to a conclusion."

"What conclusion," Danny has no idea what she's talking about. Obviously, Lori, Kono and Chin do because they are grinning at him, "what?"

"Domestic abuse," Malia is informing him.

"What? You mean. . .they think. . .that I. . .that he. . .that we are. . . I'm going to kill him."

"Oh come on Danny, you could do worse. I mean he's quite a catch, don't you think Kono," Lori is openly laughing now as are Kono and Chin, all the stress and worry of the last hours finally finding some release.

"Oh definitely sister, he's a great catch. Unfortunately, for _all_ of us his heart is already taken."

It's probably for the best that they are not able to understand Danny's grumbling; death threats are not something anyone would like to hear.

H50 – H50 – H50

It only takes them fifteen minutes to reach the Medical Center and five more to reach the third floor where their friend is located.

"Terry O'Reilly? I'm Detective Williams, we talked on the phone. Can you please call Dr. Heller and tell us where Commander McGarrett is?"

"Yes, Detective of course, Dr. Heller will be here in a few minutes. He is needed in the ER at the moment, but it shouldn't take more than thirty minutes. If you like you can wait over there."

"No! I won't wait another minute, you tell me right now where our friend is, or I swear I'm going to arrest you." Danny has no idea what he would arrest her for but hopes that she will tell them where Steve is before it comes to that. "Look, our friend was missing for over thirty four hours; we just want to see him."

"Okay." Terry relents, after seeing Danny's distress. "Room 3912. But don't wake him. I'll tell Dr. Heller where to find you."

"Thank you."

They make their way over to the indicated room and Danny slowly opens the door. They all file into the dimly-lit room and look at the lone figure peacefully sleeping in the bed. They can see that he's hooked up to some monitors, and his injured leg sticks out prominently. They all study his features, take in all his obvious injuries, from the bump to the head, the splinted right arm and bandaged leg and the IV on the back of his hand. But despite all that he seems to be resting peacefully.

Malia is studying his file and takes a look at his vitals. "His ankle is pretty bad; they had to debride the wound in the OR. He has a severe concussion, and his elbow was dislocated. He had a small crisis in recovery and was in the ICU for the night, but they managed to stabilize him. I'm sure his doctor will tell us some more. Steve's temperature is still elevated, and they have him on pretty heavy painkillers and antibiotics. I doubt he will wake up in the next few hours."

"But he will be fine?" Danny is standing next to his friend's bed and looks down at him.

"Nothing indicates that he won't, Danny. Of course, infection is always a concern, but they have him on heavy antibiotics so that should help."

Danny sits down with a thud and lets out a breath he wasn't even aware of holding.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>So, what do you think? Everything good and well now? Our boy is safe and sound, right? They only have to wait for him to wake up, Danny can have his little talk and everything will be just peachy. Right!<strong>_


	9. Chapter 9 Conversations

_**I'm sorry, that this was not posted on Friday, but I was unable to log-in. Guess I was not the only one. So without another delay, here's the new chapter.**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Chapter 09 - Conversations<strong>_

Malia puts Steve's chart back when Dr. Heller enters the hospital room. "What's going on? What are you all doing in here? I have to ask you to leave." The doctor places himself between the visitors in the room and his patient in the bed.

"Dr. Heller?"

"Yes, and you are?"

"I'm Detective Williams. Steve's partner."

"I see."

"No I don't think you do."

"Detective, believe me, I do. But none the less I have to ask you to leave now. We can talk in my office, in private. If you would follow me please," Dr. Heller points to the door in the hope that he can usher the people out of his patient's room.

"No, I'm not leaving my partner. We can talk here."

"Detective, I'm only going to say this once before I call security. Your partner is just out of the ICU after suffering severe injuries. We don't know yet how he sustained them or what caused the older bruising, so you will leave now."

"Now you listen to me Dr. Heller. Lt. Cmdr. McGarrett is not only my partner and friend but also our boss. He's the head of the Governor's Task Force and was kidnapped Friday night. That is how he sustained his injuries and how the drug got into his system. Until we're absolutely sure that the suspect was working without any partners, Steve will not be left alone. If you like I'll get Governor Denning call you."

The doctor looks at the Detective, and it's clear that he won't win this argument against the fierce shorter man. "Fine. BUT only one of you can stay. I don't want to be difficult, but Cmdr. McGarrett is seriously injured. I can't allow all of you to stay. And do not try to wake him, if I feel your presence is hindering his recovery; I will remove you from his room. And no Governor will keep me from doing that. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Dr. Heller. Thank you. Can you please tell us how he is?" Danny tries to look at the situation from the doctor's perspective and has a new respect for him. He's only trying to protect Steve, and with that, Danny can only wholeheartedly agree. They both have Steve's best interests at heart.

"In a minute, just let me do a quick check." Doug Heller takes a closer look at Steve's leg and doesn't seem to be happy about it. They can see that the white of the bandages is dotted with red. It looks like the wounds are still oozing blood. The doctor checks the pulse in every finger of Steve's right hand, takes his temperature and uses his pen-light to take a look at Steve's pupils.

"Is everything okay," Danny asks anxiously. He doesn't like the look on Doug Heller's face.

"Unfortunately not. His temperature is rising; it's 103.5. That's higher than it was when he was brought in. That is not a good sign; the antibiotics are not working. The wounds on his ankle are very deep and there was a lot of dirt in them. They flushed them out in the OR but they are badly infected. We need to switch his antibiotics, and I want the surgeon to take another look at his ankle. After that he might be placed in the ICU until his fever is down, we'll see how it goes in the OR." Dr. Heller makes some notes on Steve's chart and excuses himself to make arrangements for Steve to get back into the OR.

"Malia, you said he'd be fine. I don't understand." Danny looks at Chin's wife for an explanation.

"I also said that an infection is always a cause for worry. It's not good that his temperature is rising, but Dr. Heller is reacting fast, and I'm sure they'll avoid any further complications. Danny it's going to be okay. This can happen. But they caught it early, and Steve will be fine."

"Is he asleep or unconscious?" Kono speaks up for the first time since they entered the hospital.

"He's asleep. The heavy painkillers are knocking him out. The procedure to flush out the wound is very painful, and it hurts badly even after they're finished. I'm sure they're going to keep him on the painkillers for a while."

"When can we talk to him?"

"I don't know Danny."

It takes a few more minutes before their friend is again taken away from them, hopefully just for a short while.

H50 – H50 – H50

There is a steady beeping that's pretty annoying. The sound seems to resonate inside his aching head and intensifies the throbbing on the left side. Steve feels like he was hit by a really big bus or got very, very drunk the night before. _What the hell did I drink?_ He can't remember what happened after their dinner last night, but he's pretty sure that he got into his truck. He wouldn't have driven if he'd had more than a beer. _So no hangover, so that leaves the big bus._

Before he opens his eyes, Steve's taking stock of how he's feeling. The pain in his head is pretty intense and he's slightly nauseous, but the rest of his body is rather numb. There is a terrible dryness in his mouth, and it hurts to swallow, he's parched and wishes for some water. Steve slowly opens his eyes but slams them shut again right away. The light is burning into his brain and causes him to swallow convulsively. That causes even more pain in his throat and makes him cough.

It's like a chain reaction; the coughing sends daggers of pain through his skull. But suddenly there are some ice-chips in his mouth. He never tasted anything so wonderful. The coughing stops and he slowly swallows the moisture and relaxes back into the pillow.

"Try to open your eyes again; the light is dimmed," Danny tries to make Steve look at him.

"Urgh, more. . ."

"Okay here you go, don't swallow them, let them melt first. You like some more?"

"Hmmm."

After giving him another spoonful Danny puts the cup with the ice-chips back on the tray. "That's enough for now, or you'll get sick," he looks with worry at his friend whose eyes are still tightly closed. "Come on Steven, open your eyes."

Steve's not sure if he wants to try again, the light felt like an ice pick straight to the brain. Not an experience he has the desire to repeat. He slowly opens one eye and is happy to register that the light is indeed not as bright as before. The second eye follows, and he blinks to get Danny into focus. He's not completely successful with that task, but the blurry version of Danny will do.

"Hi."

"Hi yourself. How do you feel?"

"Fuzzy. What happened?"

"What do you remember?"

"Ehm. . .not sure. . .we were at Joe's?" Steve remembers only bits and pieces of an evening with his friends but is not sure when that was.

"Anything after that?"

"I was. . .I don't. . .argh my head hurts. . .what day is it?"

"It's Sunday, past noon."

"What? I need. . .a computer. . .Cath is. . . she'll worry."

"When were you going to talk to her?"

"Thirteen hundred."

"One p.m.?"

"Hmmm, please Danny."

"Don't worry, I'll call Chin, and he will get your laptop."

Steve listens to his friend calling Chin and explaining the situation. He closes his eyes again and tries to remember how he ended up in the hospital. It's been a while since he was lying in a hospital bed. When he hears Danny ending his call, he opens his eyes again. "Thank you."

"Chin will be here in about half an hour. Steve you remember anything else?"

"I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

"That they called you."

"What?"

"You didn't want me to call you. . . I'm sorry. . .I told them not to call you. . .I did. . . I'm sorry." Steve looks rather distressed and the heart monitor beeps a lot faster suddenly.

"Steve, what are you talking about? I never told you not to call me. What I did in the office, we'll talk about that a bit later. But Steve, when did I tell you not to call me?"

"In the rain. You were yelling… and it hurt so much… but you didn't stop… and," Steve looks at Danny in confusion, "that didn't happen, did it?"

"No Steve, I was not with you in the rain."

"Really?"

"No."

"Was it okay to call you?"

Danny had never seen his friend looking so uncertain. That damn drug is still wreaking havoc with his mind. "Yes Steve, you can always call me. Always, no matter what."

"Okay," Steve breathes out like a huge weight was just lifted off his shoulders. "Why was I in the rain?"

"You don't remember?"

"No. Ouch, what's with my ankle?"

"Try not to move. You hurt your ankle pretty badly, and the wounds are infected. The antibiotics are starting to work now, and you should feel better soon."

"And my arm? Why is it splinted?"

"You dislocated your elbow. But that was very simple and in a few days it will be as good as new. You have a severe concussion and some nasty drugs in your system."

"Drugs?"

"Yeah you were drugged."

"Hmmm."

"Go back to sleep Steve, I'll wake you when Cath is online. Just rest, we'll talk later."

Steve tries to stay awake; and ask his friend how he ended up injured and drugged, but it's a lost battle. Soon, he rests peacefully again, and Danny goes back to his newspaper.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny smiles down at his friend who has been awake for a few minutes once again. He's always amazed at how much Steve changes when he's talking to his Lieutenant. Danny winks at his friend while moving to the door to leave him to his video-call, signaling him that he will be back a bit later.

Danny is reluctant to go too far from Steve's room; they still can't rule out that George might not have been working as alone as it seems. He looks around for a chair, to sit in view of room 3912.

"Detective Williams, can I offer you some coffee?" Terry O'Reilly calls from the nurse station a few feet away.

Coffee would be really good right about now. "Thank you. I'd love some." Danny is already in front of her station.

"You're welcome. You need sugar or milk?"

"Two sugars please," Danny tastes the hot, sweet black liquid and feels like he went to heaven.

"Wow, what is this?"

Terry openly laughs at him, "it's a special brand I get from my mother."

"She 'makes' it?"

"Kind of, she works for one of the plantations. She's a bio-engineer and 'designs' new flavors," Terry tells him, using air-quotes and a few eye-rolls.

"Well if this is the result, let her engineer all she wants," Danny sips his coffee and smiles at the young woman. "I wanted to thank you for calling me about Steve."

"I'm sorry we didn't catch on sooner. He was not in the system yesterday. I mean we did check of course. And then he was in the ICU, and they had more important things to do than to find out who he was. That must sound pretty cruel, when relatives are anxiously waiting for a missing loved one, and that person is safe in a hospital but no one realizes it. It's just, you know the safety of the patient comes first, and then we check for relatives or police reports, or call the police if we think there might be a crime involved." Terry feels the need to defend herself, even though she didn't do anything wrong.

"No it's okay. I understand that," Danny smiles at the nurse but is still slightly angry. Not at her personally, but at the system. His friend was in this hospital unbeknown to them for sixteen hours, while they were going crazy. Thinking the worst. "Is something wrong?" Danny looks at Nurse O'Reilly in alarm when a sound goes off at her station.

"Your friend's heartbeat is through the roof!" Terry is already on her way to Steve's room, Danny hot on her heels.

"He's talking to his girlfriend, maybe. . ." Danny doesn't even know if Cath qualifies as a girlfriend, but he knows how happy and relaxed Steve is when she's in town. So maybe she does fit the criteria.

Happy and relaxed is not what Steve is when they open the door to his room. Panicked and desperate is more accurate. He's half sitting up in bed and is coughing, and his breathing sounds like he isn't getting any air in. His eyes are huge and full of panic, pleadingly looking at Danny, who's at his side in a flash.

"Steve! What's wrong?" That was one of the dumbest questions Danny has asked in a long time, and if Steve had any air to spare he would give him a piece of his mind.

"Can't. . . breathe," another coughing fit is wrecking Steve's body.

All kinds of alarms are ringing now, and the monitors behind his bed are blinking wildly. Terry raises Steve's headrest and puts an oxygen-mask over his mouth and nose. That seems to help a little.

"Steve, try to breathe slowly. You're hyperventilating." Terry tries to calm her patient, but without much success, Steve's breathing is way too fast, and he seems to be getting very little air in. One look at his monitors show her that it won't be long before he'll pass out. His pulse is at an alarmingly high rate and when she sees the pink spots on the inside of his mask, it's clear that they don't have much time left. She had pressed the alarm button when she entered the room and is glad to see another nurse and Dr. Heller entering with the crash-cart.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>Uh oh, a cliffhanger! Any guesses what's wrong with Steve? Let me know what you think, I'm really interested in your opinion. <strong>_


	10. Chapter 10 Complications

**Chapter 10 - Complications**

_**Earlier in Steve's hospital room**_

"Steve, what happened to you? Are you alright?" Cath looks with worry at her friend.

Even in the small frame of the video-feed, Steve can see that his friend is distressed about his condition. He doesn't think he looks so bad. Yes, of course there is the bump on the left side of his head, covered with a pretty big white patch, but other than that he looks 'normal'. As normal as he can with all kinds of electrodes, lines and tubes attached to him. And the fact that he's in a hospital bed with beeping equipment behind him, is probably not a reassuring sight. "I'll be fine. Please don't worry." His voice is very low, and he wonders why he can't speak any louder.

"What happened? Are you seriously hurt?"

"No, not really. I have a concussion," and just to underline the existence of it, his head decides to turn the volume of the damn orchestra in his head up a little. Steve closes his eyes for a second and lies back.

"Steve!" Catherine can only call out to her friend. She so wishes to touch him, to comfort him but she's only able to look at him helplessly and wait for him to come around again.

"Hmm, just give me a minute." He's dizzy and nauseous and really doesn't want to throw up in front of Catherine. Thankfully, it only takes a minute for him to feel a little better. "Sorry about that."

"You don't look so good, are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should call the nurse?"

"No, it's okay. I feel a little better."

"Is the concussion the only injury? And please tell me what happened." Cath looks at him intently, daring him to lie to her.

"No, my right elbow was dislocated, hurt like a bitch. My ankle is messed up and infected. My hip is bruised. But that's it."

"That's it? Steve, that's more than enough. Now tell me what happened."

"I don't know Cath. I haven't been awake that long, and I can't really remember. Danny was going to tell me, but I didn't want to miss your call. He's waiting outside right now. I remember being chained in some bunker, but I don't know how I got there. The injuries are from the cuffs on my ankle, and from falling down, when I was getting out of there. At least I think I got out of there. I'm sorry Cath. . .my head hurts. . . I don't really remember much."

"Steve, it's okay. Lie back. Your breathing is really fast, try to calm down."

He hears Cath talking, but he feels like he ran a marathon, he just can't catch his breath. Seconds later he starts coughing, which results in his headache spiking again. Steve closes his eyes and makes a valiant effort to draw in a deep breath. From afar, he can hear someone telling him to press a button. _What button?_ It gets harder and harder to get any air into his lungs. Steve starts to panic, but he can finally hear Catherine again.

"Cath?" Steve's voice is almost non-existent by now.

"Steve, look at me. Press the button for the nurse. Steve!" Catherine Rollins' loud voice is almost frantic, when she sees her friend gasping for air. It's obvious he's not able to catch his breath, and that he's in dire distress. Cath can only watch helplessly as her friend panics even more and struggles to sit up.

After what seems like forever she can finally see Danny and some nurse helping Steve, who is almost ready to pass out from lack of oxygen. She gets totally frustrated when the tray with the computer gets pushed out of the way, and she is no longer privy to what is going on.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny is pacing in front of Steve's room. He was thrown out a few minutes ago, after Dr. Heller came rushing into the room. Danny took Cath with him, well in the form of the laptop and was able to calm her down and promised her to call her back as soon as he knew something about Steve's condition.

He can still see Steve, lying in bed, unable to draw a breath. Coughing up blood. He vividly remembers the crash cart the nurse pushed next to Steve's bed. Danny can't understand why Steve was suddenly in such distress. He seemed fine when Danny went for coffee and left him talking to Catherine. When he saw him suffocating, Danny panicked and didn't know what to do. He did the only thing he could think of and grabbed his friend's hand, which seemed to ground Steve some.

Steve still couldn't breathe better but he was looking at Danny with such trust, that it totally blew his mind. His best friend was on the brink of blacking out but trusted Danny to help him.

Danny looks up at the sound of the elevator arriving, and sees his three friends emerging, chatting happily, but one look at him and they stop their conversation.

"Danny, what's wrong?" Kono is the first to ask.

"I don't know. Steve had some kind of attack, he couldn't breathe. The doctor is still with him. One minute he was fine and the next, he's coughing up blood and…"

"Hey, I'm sure he's going to be okay. How long have you been out here?" Lori looks at Danny and hopes that she's right with her prognosis.

"Ten minutes. Seems like an hour," Danny mutters, pacing in front of them. "I just don't understand. Steve woke up and he was so happy to talk to Catherine. I shouldn't have left him alone."

"Danny, it's not your fault." Chin knows that Danny is still guilt-ridden about the whole kidnapping. Something that is not Danny's fault at all, but he also knows that no words will convince him of that.

"It's the second time that I left him, and he ends up hurt."

"Danny, that is just ridiculous. None of this is your fault." Chin just shakes his head at the stubborn Detective.

"If I hadn't met with the guys from Jersey, or if I had invited Steve along, he would not have been kidnapped. He would have been with me and would have been safe."

"Danny that is the most stupid thing you've ever said. You can't dwell on 'what if'. That is just dumb. Okay, listen to me Danny. I know you feel guilty for telling Steve that you didn't want him to meet your friends. And you should, as that is not how you treat your best friend. BUT that has nothing to do with Steve getting hurt. You will have to explain your actions to Steve, he was hurt by it big time. But I'm sure you two will work it out. What you should not do is feel guilty about Steve's kidnapping, because that was not your fault. And Steve will be the last one who will hold you accountable for that." Kono is looking at Danny and hopes that he will snap out of his guilt trip sooner rather than later. "Steve needs you Danny. Stop your self-pity and face the situation."

Before Danny can reply, Dr. Heller and the two nurses come out of Steve's room.

"Dr. Heller, how is Steve? Is he all right?"

"Detective Williams, maybe we should talk in my office?" The doctor looks at the team and motions for them to follow him.

"What? Why? Please just tell us how Steve is." Danny is not willing to leave his partner's side again.

"Your partner will be fine. Now please will you follow me to my office? I like to talk to you about some things. You," he's looking at the rest of the team, "can stay with the commander. Just don't wake him. In a few minutes, he will be taken to radiology. Don't worry it's just for a routine check."

Danny is debating not going with the doctor but going to see his friend again. Since the team will be with Steve he agrees to leave. Dr. Heller's office is on the same floor and it's quite spacious.

"Please Detective, have a seat. Would you like a coffee or some soda?" Dr. Heller asks him when they reach his inner office.

"No, thank you." This is not what Danny expected, he was not prepared for him to be so 'nice'.

"Very well. Detective, I know we got off to a rocky start. But please believe me I only had Steve's best interests in mind. First let me tell you what was wrong just now. At some point during his ordeal he must have inhaled some fluids. Water, or maybe even some vomit. Normally the body is able to handle that and gets rid of it naturally. Inhaled water gets simply coughed out. But in some cases, for various reasons, that doesn't happen. What happened to Steve often happens to drowning victims. We call that 'dry drowning'. Fluid in the lungs builds up and the victims drown in their own body. That can happen up to seventy two hours after the actual incident"

"Will Steve be okay?"

"He will be fine. He only has a very mild case, and his violent coughing already got rid of most of it. We're going to take some x-rays, to confirm it, but I'm certain that with the given medication, Steve should not have another episode."

"He coughed up blood." Danny can still see the bloody mask.

"Yes, but that is nothing unusual and is harmless. Don't worry about it."

"So he will be okay?" Danny just needs to hear it one more time.

"Yes, Detective, he will be fine." Dr. Heller is smiling at the younger man, "I'd like to talk to you about something else though."

"About what?"

"I like to apologize to you and explain why I practically accused you of abusing your partner."

"Oh. I was wondering why you acted like that." Danny had been waiting for an explanation ever since he came to the hospital. But there had been more important things to worry about up until now.

"When Steve was brought into the ER, he was only semiconscious and even when awake not very lucid. We could barely get his first name out of him. At that time the ER was extremely busy with dozens of victims from a bus accident. Of course Steve received all the care he needed right away, but the administrative side of his arrival… well, let's just say was not the best. The alert for him was not at the desk in the ER and our system is still lagging behind. So he was not ID'd right away. We're sorry about that."

"I understand that, his nurse already told me." Danny has calmed down about the fact that his friend was in the hospital and they were not informed about it. In the end, no harm was done.

"Still, I'd like to apologize for it."

"Thank you, but I'm more interested in why you thought that I was the one hurting my partner." Danny is still curious about that and doesn't think it's funny at all. Contrary to his teammates, who find the whole mess just hilarious.

"Commander McGarrett was treated by our ER-pediatrician. I assure you he's very capable of treating adults, don't worry, he's a good doctor." Dr. Heller tries to hide his grin about the look Danny was sporting at the mention of the pediatrician. "The injuries Cmdr. McGarrett suffered were inconclusive. Dr. Brill assumed he suffered his injuries during a climbing accident. He was wearing light climbing shoes and his ankle looked like it was caught in a rope and he'd got hung from it. But his other injuries practically screamed abuse. Spousal abuse to be precise. His fading bruises clearly indicated long time abuse."

"That still doesn't explain why you thought I was the one hurting him."

"No it doesn't. During the time Steve was awake, he mumbled your name. But he was very scared that we might call you. He pleaded with us not to call Danno. That, and other disturbing findings led Dr. Brill to the conclusion that his boyfriend was abusing him. I'm sorry if I offended you with my conclusion that _you_ were Steve's abusive friend. I didn't mean to. I was just looking out for my patient." Dr. Heller's apology is sincere and Danny is sure that he means it.

"As my 'female' colleagues tell me I should be flattered since apparently he's such a good catch." Danny can't help but grin at the doctor. "Wait a minute. What disturbing findings are you talking about?"

"Detective, I'm not comfortable discussing this with you." It's clear that Dr. Heller tries to avoid Danny's question.

"I'm Steve's next of kin and I have his power of attorney, you can discuss his medical issues with me."

"I know that. But this is not about his immediate care, so I'd rather not talk about it with a third party."

That was of course the wrong thing to say, Danny is a detective after all. And something like this will only make him go after the answer even more. "What kind of tests did you do?"

"The usual: X-Rays, CT-scan for his head and the normal testing in the ER."

"Dr. Heller, I need to know if my partner is sick in any way. I need to know if your findings will affect his duty."

"He is not sick and it will not affect his work," Dr. Heller assures Danny. "Detective, how well do you know Cmdr. McGarrett?"

Danny wonders where this conversation is going, "what do you mean?"

"You're good friends?"

"Yeah, we're close. What are you getting at?"

"Do you know much about his childhood?"

"No. Steve doesn't talk about his childhood very often." Danny has no idea what the doctor is trying to say, without actually saying anything.

"Does Steve have children?"

"No he doesn't."

"Well, since he's not in an abusive relationship, it's not really relevant anyway."

"What do you mean by that?" Danny is getting kind of frustrated.

"Very often in cases of domestic abuse the cycle of violence continues. Victims of domestic abuse are often not just victims but also offenders. It's often an endless cycle, a child gets abused and ends up in an abusive relationship and abuses his or her own offspring. Or a niece or nephew."

Danny looks at Dr. Heller open mouthed, did he just say what Danny thinks he did? Did he just say that Steve was abused as a child? That they found evidence for that in some x-rays and that's what led them to the conclusion of spousal abuse? Did he just suggest that Steve might abuse children?

He has no idea what Steve's childhood was like, but he knows without a doubt that Steve would never ever hurt a child. Not his own or anyone else's.

He is the one person Danny would give Grace to without any hesitation. He knows with certainty that his partner would do anything to keep his daughter safe. Never would he hurt his Monkey.

But Dr. Heller put a seed in Danny's brain, and he's going to make sure to talk to Steve about his childhood. To find out about old injuries. To find out if Steve was a victim at such a young age. He desperately hopes that is not the case.

H50 – H50 - H50

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><p><em><strong>Thank you all so much for reading. Let me know what you think. It makes my day.<strong>_

_**Next chapter will be up on Friday. If FFN is not offline again.** _


	11. Chapter 11 Waking up

**Thank you all so much for reading and sticking with the story. Thanks for all the reviews, alerts and messages. **

**Again I have to thank Cokie316 and Sherry57 for a great job. You girls are great.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 11 – Waking up<strong>

Steve listens to the beeping of the heart monitor and tries to slow his heartbeat. Not very successfully though. It's still too fast and it annoys the hell out of him. Not the fact that it's faster than usual, but the sound is sending his headache into orbit.

He woke up a few minutes ago and figured out that he's in a hospital bed. Which doesn't make much sense to him. The last thing he can remember clearly is being out with his team after they finished the Dunbar case. After that everything is kind of a blur. He remembers vaguely talking to Danny earlier. And he thinks he talked to Catherine, but that memory is really hazy.

But for the life of him he can't remember how he ended up in the hospital. His head hurts madly and his vision is still a little out of focus. _I need to stop that damn beeping._ Steve reaches for the call button. Not an easy task. Someone put it on his right side. _Really clever to put it there._ He's frustrated that he can't use his arm, it's splinted from his upper arm all the way down to his wrist. He's not in any pain from it and doesn't understand why he's wearing that thing.

Finally he gets the call button. He looks at the door expectantly and wonders for the first time, why he's alone in the room.

"Commander, good to see you awake." A nurse comes into the room and is way too cheerful for Steve's taste. And too loud. "How are you feeling? Do you need anything?"

"Can you. . ." _Wow, whose voice is that?_ "Can you please turn the beeping off?" Steve tries again, after clearing his throat.

"Yes of course." Terry O'Reilly fumbles with the machinery behind his head and finally the room is bathed in silence. "I'm sorry we didn't think of that sooner. How is your head?"

"Hurts." Steve gets dizzy following Terry's movements while she checks the equipment and his IV-line.

"You're due for another shot of pain meds in a few minutes. I'm sure that will help with the headache."

"Thank you. Where is Detective Williams, he was here earlier?"

"He only stepped out for a minute, I'm sure he'll be back soon." Terry hasn't even finished her sentence when Danny enters the room. Seeing that Williams is back, she leaves them alone with the promise to be back with some pain medication.

"Hey, look who's awake." Danny closes the distance to his friend's bed in seconds. "Steve, how are you doing?"

'I need a break' – 'don't call me' – 'I don't wanna see you' – 'don't want you to meet my friends' – 'you don't want to be my partner?' – 'I'm sorry' – 'no time for you'

Steve looks at Danny and tries to silence the voice that has taken up residence in his head again. But it's just too loud to be ignored. This time he's aware that he's hearing voices and that they're not real, but still he can't stop it. Steve has no idea that it's the drug in his system, that is messing with his head.

"Steve? Are you alright?"

"What?"

"You just spaced out. You feel okay?"

"My head hurts. Danny, what happened? Can I have some water?" Steve's voice still sounds like he gurgled with sandpaper

"Yeah sure." Danny fills a cup with water from the tray and holds it out to Steve, "can you hold it on your own?"

"Yeah," his hand is shaking a little, but he manages to drink it without dropping the cup. "Thanks."

"Don't let him drink too much." Terry is back with a syringe and takes the cup from Steve and puts it back on the stand next to the bed. She injects the ordered pain medication in his IV and leaves the two men alone again.

"Why am I in the hospital? Danny, what happened?" At the end of the sentence Steve's voice gives out on him and a coughing fit messes with his headache even more. It's now that he becomes aware that breathing really hurts. It feels like an elephant is sitting on his chest, well okay a baby elephant, but still it's not easy to take some normal breaths.

"You had some fluids in your lungs. Scared the shit out of us a while ago. Steve, try to calm your breathing down, or they'll put the oxygen mask back on."

Steve tries to do as Danny tells him and after a few moments he can breathe more easily and the coughing stops. Leaving him with a severe headache and slightly dizzy.

"Fluids? Did I drown or something?" Steve has no idea what happened after they had dinner at Joe's. _Did I go for a night-swim?_ He doubts it, he remembers being tired after the long day and he wouldn't have gone swimming when tired. _But maybe I did, and got into trouble while out in the ocean?_

"Steve! Hey, you with me?" Danny looks at his friend, who seems to be miles away, maybe trying to remember what happened.

"Yeah, I'm with you. Danny, what happened?"

"Do you remember anything after your dinner at Joe's? Steve, anything at all?"

"Ehm, I remember rain… and I was sick… handcuffs… I was cold… but nothing concrete Danny, I'm sorry."

"No it's okay. You have a severe concussion, you hit your head really hard. We think that after the accident…"

"What accident?"

"I'll tell you in a minute, let's just go over your injuries first. We think that you must have hit your head again after you were dragged out of your truck. The airbag was also deployed, that is another hit to the head. And we know that you hit the concrete on the way down to the parking lot, there was quite a lot of blood."

Steve looks at his partner and has no idea what he's talking about. _What accident? What parking lot?_ He gets rather frustrated.

"Steve, your ankle is badly injured. It will take a while before you'll walk on it again. There are some cuts into the bone, but they hope that the bone will not get inflamed. The wounds are infected and you have a fever from that. I imagine you feel pretty crappy right now."

Crappy is the understatement of the week. Steve feels dead tired and every joint and muscle aches. "I don't think I could get up right now, even if I wanted to."

Danny smiles at that admission, a testament to Steve's weakened state. "Your elbow was dislocated, we think from a fall. The surgeon assured us that you will have no lasting problems with that. It was a very simple dislocation and in a few days you should be fine. No ligament injuries, you were really lucky."

"I don't feel so lucky right now."

"Yeah, I can imagine."

"You still haven't told me what happened to me."

"You were kidnapped."

"What? When? By whom?"

"George Barns."

"Who?"

"That's what we said. George Barns is a thirty-year old bartender at Sporty's. He snatched you, because he thought you were having an affair with his girlfriend."

Steve looks at Danny like he just told him that 'Invasion from Mars' is real. "You're kidding me. Please tell me you're kidding."

"I could tell you that, but George still kidnapped you."

Steve just doesn't know what to say. He got snatched by some idiot who was jealous about his girlfriend? He almost died at the hand of 'George Somebody'?

"Steve, don't get angry about it. I know how you must feel right now. After all you've been through during your military time and with Five-0, only to be kidnapped by some amateur. But Steve, amateurs are the most dangerous criminals, because they are unpredictable. And more importantly you're not looking out for them. I'm sure that you would have been aware of an imminent attack by Wo Fat's men, for example. But that completely 'out of the blue attack by a regular Joe' is what threw you and all of us for a loop."

"How did you find me?"

"Technically, we didn't. You made it here on your own. Well, with the help of some hikers. You managed to escape, we're not sure how yet, but collapsed on your way to the parking lot. Luckily a woman and her son found you and brought you here. We were informed almost sixteen hours later."

"You didn't know that I was safe? I'm sorry Danny." Steve gets interrupted again by some mild coughing.

"Was not your fault. Do you want me to call the nurse?" Danny looks at his injured friend, who's still in the middle of a coughing fit. It's not as violent as earlier, and Steve seems to be breathing just fine, but it still leaves Danny worried.

"No… I'll be fine." Steve lies back with his eyes closed and tries to control his breathing and stop the coughing. After a minute he seems successful.

"Steve, you should rest for a while. We can talk later. Just go back to sleep, I'll be here when you wake up."

"Hmm, 'kay." Steve doesn't need to be told twice. It only takes a moment for him to fall asleep, exhausted from pain, fever and coughing up a lung.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny settles back down in his chair next to Steve's bed after getting another one of those great coffee's from Terry. He looks at his friend who seems to be sleeping peacefully. Danny had talked to Dr. Heller again and the doctor assured him that Steve should be feeling better soon. The antibiotics were doing their job and the fever was down to a manageable 101° F. Dr. Heller also told him what to expect in the next few days. That the concussion will bug his friend for a few days, headaches, nausea and dizzy spells being only one side of the head injury. More severe is the probable memory loss. It remains to be seen how much damage Steve's brain suffered. How much of the past few days he'll be able to recover.

"Why didn't you want me to meet your friends?" Danny gets pulled out of his thoughts by Steve's soft voice.

"I thought you were asleep." Danny's not sure if he's ready to talk about his stupid choice of words a few days ago. "Do you feel a little better? Can I get you anything?"

"Danny!" Steve tries to raise his voice but fails miserably. His breathing's improved quite a bit, but he still can't take a deep breath. And that leaves him with a rather low voice.

"Listen, Steve. I promise we'll talk about it. Just not right now. I think we have more important things to talk about, before you fall asleep again."

Steve looks at his friend, and wonders what might be more important than their friendship? It's obvious that Danny doesn't want to talk about it and Steve doesn't have the energy to fight him over this. His head still hurts and he's dizzy. It's not helping that his breathing is still somewhat impaired. "Fine."

"Steve, we're still not completely sure that George was working alone."

"George?"

"George Barns, the guy who kidnapped you." Danny looks for any sign of recognition on Steve's part, but can't find any. Steve is looking at him like he has no idea what he's talking about. It's suddenly clear to Danny that he completely underestimated his friend's head injury. Now he understands what Dr. Heller meant when he said that the concussion might cause Steve to 'forget' any conversation they have in the next couple of days. That they might have to tell him again and again what happened to him. Until Steve's brain can catch up and recovers enough for him to comprehend a conversation. "Do you remember why you're in the hospital?"

"No, not really."

And for the second time in just two hours, Danny tells his friend about his ordeal. How he ended up in the hospital, drugged and hurt.

"I was not even the target?"

"No. It seems that George was trying to get Mick Douglas. A dead ringer for you, well at least in the dark. He does look a bit like you."

"And he drugged me? How the hell did he even get near me?"

"We figure that you hit your head in the accident. You must have been dazed by it. Dan said that you were 'shaking' in the van, we think that you had a seizure. A severe concussion can cause that, and combined with the drug… you were not able to defend yourself."

"Did I talk to Catherine? I kind of remember that."

"You did. She'll be calling again after her shift."

"Okay." Steve lays his head back. Even the little talking he's doing, is tiring him out. He can vaguely remember having this conversation before. It feels like déjà vu.

"Steve, go back to sleep. We'll talk more a bit later."

Sleep sounds like a good idea right about now. Steve is really not that interested in talking. His head hurts fiercely and he's kind of fuzzy. He's sure that he's on pretty heavy drugs. That would explain the overall numb feeling. He's not in pain per se, it's more like an overall aching. It takes too much energy to think about it. Energy, he just can't muster. He knows that he should probably worry about that, but again that would cost energy. Something he doesn't seem to have at all.

Steve tries to remember any of what Danny told him, but comes up blank. He let his mind drift, and soon he falls asleep again.

Danny watches his friend struggle for a minute, but can see that he'll be asleep in a few moments. He's worried about him. It's the first time that Steve's been hurt seriously enough to warrant a hospital stay. Sure, he's been beaten, stabbed, shot and who knows what else. But he could always leave the hospital after being treated.

Even after Korea he was not in a hospital. Yes, he was at home in bed for almost a week. That bastard Wo Fat was aiming for maximum pain without serious injuries. Well, Danny counts bruised kidneys and peeing blood for a week as a serious injury, but obviously SEALs don't. Ergo just some tests at Queens and after confirming there were no life threatening injuries present, he was released. Reluctantly, but they did discharge him. It's not such a wild guess in whose care.

Danny had been very surprised how disciplined Steve was in following the doctor's orders. Guess the military training was good for something more than just blowing things up.

When Danny's sure that his friend has indeed fallen back into a deep sleep, he gets up and silently moves out of the room to find Chin. He had called a few minutes before Steve woke up and told him that he would come by with news about George Barns. He hopes it is good news, so that they can put this case to rest and concentrate on Steve's recovery.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny is standing in front of Steve's room when Chin comes out of the elevator. Next to him is an HPD officer and Danny wonders what that is about.

"Danny, Officer Dale Palani will stay at the entrance of Steve's room. Dale, only the people on this list are allowed in there. You have to accompany every nurse or doctor." As he spoke, Chin handed over a clipboard with a list of names on it.

"Don't worry Chin, no one will see him without me."

"Good, we'll be right back."

Chin leads Danny away from prying ears. "Chin, what's this about? Where are you going?"

Chin moves to a few doors down from Steve's and they enter the unoccupied hospital room. "Dan Ukilani is dead."

"What? How?"

"He and Bill Thomas, his guardian, were shot while going to a group session with Dan's therapist. They were killed in the parking lot."

"Any leads on the shooter?"

"None. We haven't figured out yet where the shots came from. They were shot with a large caliber, rifle shots to the head. Both of them."

"Why would anyone kill Dan or Mr. Thomas? Do you think George was not solely responsible for Steve's kidnapping?"

"I don't know Danny. Nothing in his past shows any criminal activity. And I believed Dan when he told us what happened. Somehow I don't think that George worked for anybody. But it's highly suspicious that everyone involved in snatching Steve is now dead."

"And that might mean Steve is still a target. Did you get the Governor's approval for the security detail?"

"Yeah right away, without hesitation. He said to use every available resource to find the people behind the kidnapping. And he wants an update on Steve's condition. I told him that you'll call him. How is Steve?"

"Not good. He can't remember what happened. I've already told him twice, but he keeps forgetting it. His head hurts really bad, but his breathing has improved. He's sleeping right now."

"You gonna stay with him?"

"Yeah. One of us should stay with him at all times. Chin, he can't protect himself at the moment. I doubt he would even make it out of bed."

"Okay. Lori and Kono are already digging into the pasts of George, Dan and Bill Thomas. As soon as we find anything, we'll call you."

"Good. Chin, be careful. Until we know what really went down, we should see this as a threat against all of us."

"We will be, don't worry brah."

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>What the heck is going on? :-) Any guesses?<strong>_


	12. Chapter 12 A delicate subject

**Thank you all for reading, alerting and reviewing. Some of you have pm disabled, so I can't thank you personally. Thank you!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 12 – A delicate subject<strong>

Danny looks at his friend, who has been dozing for a few minutes, after telling him again what had happened to him. Leaving out the part about the shooting in the parking lot and the subsequent death of all of his kidnappers.

Ever since Danny talked to Dr. Heller, he has wanted to ask Steve about his childhood. He just doesn't know how to broach the subject.

"What's on your mind?" Steve's soft voice penetrates the quiet.

"Why do you think I have anything on my mind?"

"You're awfully quiet Danny. That's never a good sign." Steve tries to smile at his friend, but it's more like a pained grimace. His headache is not much better, but at least he's not nauseous.

"Hey you okay?"

"Not really. But as good as I can be at the moment, I guess. And don't change the subject. What's eating you?"

Danny's comes to the decision that there won't be a perfect time to broach this. Might as well just come out with it. "You don't talk about your childhood very often."

"What?"

"Your childhood. You know when you were little Stevie. Running around and driving you mother crazy, I'm sure."

"I was a perfect little angel, I never drove anyone crazy."

"Oh, so you became your annoying self later in life?" Danny's big smile leaves no room to misunderstand that he's kidding.

"Why are you suddenly interested in my childhood? You never asked about it before."

"I know that you don't like to talk about your family life after your mother was killed. I can understand that and I wouldn't pry into it. I'm just curious about the fifteen years before that."

"I guess my youth was pretty normal."

"Was your dad around much?"

"Not at first when he was still in the Navy, but I can't remember that, I was too little. When I was two he joined HPD. Danny, you know how it is. He was home more often, but sometimes he wasn't."

"Did he spend time with you?"

"Yeah, whenever he could. He was a great dad when I was young. He taught me all kinds of things and explained everything I asked him about. I was really nosy and wanted to know everything. I'm pretty sure I drove him crazy sometimes." Steve smiles at his friend, confirming Danny's suspicion from earlier.

"So you had a good childhood? What about your mom?"

"I had the best. I mean, Danny, we lived on the beach in Hawaii! I think I could swim before I could even walk. For us kids it really was a paradise. My mom, well, I was her baby boy. I was pretty jealous when my sister was born, I didn't like to share my mom. It took a while to see that she still loved me the same, even with that annoying little thing in the house."

"You didn't like being a big brother?"

"Hell, no. At least not at first. My parents tried to involve me in her care, but every time I went near her, she started to cry and scream. I didn't like her much. My dad spent a lot of time just with me, we went fishing and camping. But everything changed when she learned to walk. I couldn't get rid of her, she followed me like a puppy. That was so annoying." Steve smiles at those good memories, he'd loved to spend time just with his dad. He was not home often, but when he was, he spent all his time with his kids.

"So everything was pretty much perfect with your parents?"

"No, of course not. I was kind of stubborn and if I had an idea, I wanted to see it through. No matter what. My mom and dad didn't like that side of me very much."

_**McGarrett Home 1982**_

_Stevie doesn't really know what the big fuss is all about. He's not a baby anymore, he's five now. After the summer is over, he will go to school. He knows what he's doing._

"_You could have gotten yourself hurt. Do you understand that Steven?" His mother hadn't been that angry with him in a long time._

"_But mom, I did everything right, it was really safe. It was just a big boom."_

_That was obviously the wrong thing to say, because his mother throws her arms into the air and storms off, while yelling at his dad. "You get some sense into your son."_

_Now Stevie knows that he's in trouble big time. If his mom is not the one punishing him, but gives the task to his dad, that means he did something really bad. Stevie looks at his dad and just before he can school his features, Stevie can see the smirk on his face. Uh oh, his dad doesn't know what all the fuss is about either. He puts on his best grin for his dad and knows that the punishment won't be so bad after all._

"_Come on son, let's have a talk on the beach." John McGarrett looks down at his five-year-old and wonders not for the first time, how the heck they got blessed with such a smart little guy. _

_Stevie reluctantly follows his dad out to the beach behind their house. His day had started out really great and he hadn't thought that he would end up in deep trouble over some experiments with his mom's cooking stuff._

_He found this book in his dad's study with all those great pictures. And all that chemistry stuff in it. He'd better not tell his dad that he'd been in his study and even took the book up to his room and read it. Some of the words were too big for him to understand, but most of it was easy._

"_Steve, you really scared your mom. And she is right, you could have gotten hurt really bad."_

"_But dad…"_

"_No. There is no 'but'. You put yourself in danger today. You blew your mom's kitchen up." John McGarrett can't say that with a straight face, because he doesn't agree with his wife. That little explosion in the bottle can hardly be called 'blowing up my kitchen'. And though he would never admit it to his wife, he's very impressed by his son. He has no idea how he figured out how to even make that 'explosive device', as Doris called it._

"_I didn't blow the kitchen up," Stevie mutters under his breath. _

"_Well, if you ask your mother, you did." John smiles at his son, who looks like as if he's going to cry. "Come here." _

_Stevie rushes into his father's embrace and is happy to get hugged. "I didn't mean to scare mommy."_

_John McGarrett hugs his son and can hear him sniffle. He knows how badly it affects Steve that he upset his mom. "I know Stevie. It's okay. So, what do you think your punishment should be? Do you think grounded for a week gives you enough time to think about what you did?"_

"_Yes Sir, absolutely." Stevie can't believe that he'll get away with that._

"_No swimming, no TV, no friends coming over, no playing outside and no more playing with any kind of chemical stuff. And… you have to be nice to your baby sister." That alone would be cruel and unusual punishment. _

"_I don't do nothing to her, Daddy. She screams all on her own." In Stevie's eyes, that sister of his, does nothing but sleep and scream. _

_His father is smiling down at him, knowing that Steve will love his sister eventually. "And one more thing, I expect the chemistry book back in the study tonight."_

_Eyes big as saucers, little Stevie can only nod._

Danny's snorting laughter brings Steve back to the present, "barely out of diapers and you'd already blown up your neighborhood."

"Great, now it's not just the kitchen but the whole neighborhood. I blew up a tiny little plastic bottle with a mix of baking soda and some other stuff. It was a little boom, nothing else." Steve rolls his eyes at Danny's exaggeration, but regrets the action instantly, when it makes him dizzy.

"You said it was a big boom!"

"For a five-year old, yeah."

"Hmm, that's not where you got it from." Danny wasn't aware that he said that out loud.

"What?"

"Steve, you know that the doctor thought that you were being abused by your boyfriend, right?"

"What?"

"Dr. Heller didn't talk to you?"

"No, what are you talking about? My boyfriend? Who would that be? OH!" It didn't take long for Steve to catch on. "I'm sorry Danny, I guess that is my fault."

_Did the man just giggle?_ Danny is looking at his friend, _must be the drug_. "That is not funny."

"It kinda is. But what does that have to do with your questions?" Steve needs to close his eyes when a wave of pain suddenly threatens to overwhelm him.

"Hey, what's wrong? You okay? Steve!" Danny looks with worry at his friend, who's gone pale and beads of sweat have appeared on his forehead.

"Dizzy… head and chest hurts." Steve's voice is just above a whisper.

"I'm going to call a nurse." Danny has the call button already in his hand. "Try to take slow breaths Steve," Danny is more anxious than Steve seems to be. He still remembers vividly his friend lying in bed, unable to breathe.

"Danny, calm down. I'm okay, doc said this might happen. Damn, my head hurts." Steve's talking with his eyes still closed and is interrupted by some mild coughing.

"Commander, you called? Everything alright?" Anny, the nurse for the evening comes in and with one look at her patient knows that his next dose of pain meds couldn't come soon enough. "I think you're overdue for some pain relief. Hold out another minute, I'll be right back."

As promised, it doesn't even take a minute for her to be back with a syringe. She empties the content into Steve's IV line and they can practically see him relax. "Don't overexert yourself and don't talk too much. You have neither the air for that, nor will your head be happy about it. Try to rest a little. Detective, you could grab some dinner while Commander McGarrett takes a little nap." She sends a stern look Steve's way while she puts the nasal canula for the oxygen back on. "This stays put, you need it. Your O²-level is too low. Try to take deeper breaths and stop talking for a few minutes."

"Okay. Danny, please stay. I'll be fine in a minute, I feel better already." Steve hasn't opened his eyes yet, but he seems calm and not in pain.

"You sure? Maybe Anny is right and you should rest a little?"

"Please stay?"

"Okay. Anny, I promise I'll make him take a break and rest."

"You do that. I'll keep an eye on your vitals Commander, if they don't improve in the next few minutes, I'll kick your friend out. So no talking."

"Okay."

She shakes her head at the both of them, but lets Danny see her smile. "Call me if you need anything."

"Thank you Anny."

"Didn't I just say no talking?" She glares at Steve and dares him to say another word. Which he is wise enough not to do as long as she's in the room.

"Danny, tell me about what Dr. Heller told you." Steve's voice is very low again. He has no trouble taking in air, but it hurts to take deeper breaths. His breathing is rather shallow, that's why his oxygen saturation is on the low side. And all his talking is using up more air than he's taking in. Steve imagines that this must be how one would feel after an asthma attack.

"Are you sure you up to this?" The detective looks at his friend and tries to figure out if Steve is fit enough for the discussion Danny started, or if he should make sure that he gets some rest first.

Steve's not saying anything, but only looks at his best friend. He's curious about what has Danny in such a worried mode. He can't really understand it. Dr. Heller assured them that he should be on his way to recovery and Danny was present during that conversation. Yes, sure, Steve still feels like crap and probably still looks like it too. But Danny should know that he's going to be okay. So Steve wonders what's eating at his friend. Besides his guilt about what he said to Steve on Friday, which he's still not willing to talk about.

"Danny?"

"Okay, I'll tell you." Danny tells his friend about the conversation he had with Dr. Heller, how they thought that he was the abusive boyfriend and how they came to that conclusion. "He wouldn't tell me what they found in the tests they did on you. So I went to Dr. Robert Wise, he's the surgeon who patched you up. Cleaned your wound and set your elbow. He told me about the x-rays."

"X-rays?"

"Yeah, they did them for your leg, hip and arm. And they found old injuries. Really old ones, Steve. They estimate them to be thirty years old. You had broken bones at a very young age." Danny is taking some calming breaths before he comes to the delicate part. "They thought that those injuries might not be from accidents."

It takes almost a minute for Steve to understand what his friend is trying to tell him. "They think I was abused by my parents?"

"Yes."

Steve looks at Danny in total shock. It was funny that they thought he was beaten up by his boyfriend, Danny. To a degree. But to think that his parents hurt him as a young boy, is just… he doesn't even know what to think about it.

"Mom and dad were very loving parents. They always showed us their love." Steve talks very softly, "my mom was always hugging and kissing us. If they had to punish me or my sister, they never did it in a physical way. They never hit me, or my sister."

"So how did you hurt yourself? And don't tell me you fell out of a tree. You had multiple broken bones. Dr. Wise said they were typical injuries from getting beaten. Steve, I'm really sorry to bring this up, but I just couldn't let it go. Is it okay for you to talk about it?"

"Yeah, it's fine. It happened at the end of Hell Week."

"Steve, those injuries are thirty years old, SEAL training was when?"

"Not _that_ Hell Week. I mean the five-year-old-boy-version one. Remember that I got grounded for a week? That night when I brought the chemistry book back, my dad allowed me to take one other book. So I had to chose wisely. I took a book about aeronautics. My dad thought that would be safe, since I could hardly build a plane and crash with it."

"Wait a minute; you were five?"

"Yeah. I wanted to be a scientist after my dad told me not to be a cop. I love science, always did." All that talking takes a toll on Steve and he needs to stop when he's again wrecked by a coughing fit.

"Gentlemen, that's enough now." Anny is back in the room and they can see that she's not amused. "Detective, you have to leave now. And you Commander, will take a nap." She injects something in Steve's IV and just seconds later he struggles to keep his eyes open.

"Not fair," Steve tries to glare at her, but it's not very effective with drooping eyelids. A moment later his breathing evens out and he's asleep.

"What did you give him?"

"Doctor's orders, a mild sedative. But in his state more than enough to knock him out for a few hours. Detective, he needs to rest. His lungs need time to recover, all this talking is not good for him. His temperature is still elevated and his body is battling a bad infection. He can't get better if he's exhausted. Please let him sleep."

"But he's going to be okay?"

"He'll be fine. Go get some dinner. He'll sleep for at least two hours. I'm sure you can continue your conversation then." Anny practically pushes Danny out of the room.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><strong><em>I hope you liked it. <em>**


	13. Chapter 13 Revealing

**Chapter 13 - Revealing**

Officer Lori Weston enters Five-0 HQ and doesn't expect to find anyone there, but when she reaches the bullpen, she can see Kono and Chin already at work at the smart-table.

"I didn't expect you here. I thought you were staying at the hospital?"

"No, Danny is staying with Steve. We thought we could get a head-start on Barnes." Chin tells his colleague without looking up from his task.

"How is Steve?"

"As can be expected, I guess. He's still running a fever, but he's getting better. He was awake and talked to Danny for a bit, but can't remember anything about what happened to him. At least not at the moment."

"Can he have visitors later today?" Lori was hoping to at least say hi to her boss.

"Yeah sure Lori, you can go anytime. I'm sure he'll be happy to see any of us." Chin still doesn't know why Lori is sometimes unsure of her position with Five-0. He thinks that they integrated her into their team pretty well, but sometimes she seems unsure of herself. "Lori, did the guys from CSU tell you anything new?"

"Yes, they did. After you called them about the shooting, they went over the car again. This time they looked for anything amiss with the van. They didn't do that the first time, because it was a simple accident. But now with the head of Five-0 involved and the mysterious shooting, they took a closer look. The brake-system was tampered with and the brake line was cut. And they found a remote activated fuse on the front axle. Probably for a small charge of explosives. They are still testing for any residue."

"So the accident was no accident?" Kono looks at Lori for confirmation.

"No, it doesn't look like one anymore. The theory is that when the line was cut, the brake fluid leaked; once the charge was set on the axle, Barns lost control of the car, couldn't slow down and crashed into the pillar."

"That is a pretty elaborate scheme to get rid of Barns," Kono replied, thinking out loud. "Why go to all that trouble? Let's say someone hired Barns to kidnap Steve. That begs the question, why Barns? How would anyone think that man was even capable of kidnapping a SEAL? The next question would be, why leave Steve in that bunker? This doesn't make any sense."

"Kono, I think you're missing the point. If Steve hadn't been able to get out of the bunker, he wouldn't have been found. Those bunkers are closed and the likelihood of anyone going in there is pretty slim. He could have spent days there without being found."

"Maybe, but it was still a risk and not a very good location to keep someone prisoner." Kono still doesn't see the point in the whole kidnapping.

"That might be right, maybe it was supposed to be a temporary location." Chin adds, not really believing his statement. The bunker was too difficult to reach for that.

"Guys, let's refocus."

"Lori, I think you spent too much time with Steve, with all your focusing." Chin smiles at her, letting her know that he appreciates her effort to get them back on track.

"Right. So what DO we know?" Lori looks at Kono, who is keeping track of all the evidence in her log.

"Okay, here it goes:  
>- Steve was snatched Friday night around ten p.m. by George Barns and Dan Ukilani<br>- he was injured in the accident and then drugged  
>- Dan Ukilani drove the van to the rest area and George took over<br>- George brought Steve, now unconscious, to the bunker…"

"Wait a minute." Lori interrupts Kono, "George Barns was what? Five-seven and around 140 pounds? There is no way that he carried an unconscious Steve up to the bunker and deposited him there. Why didn't we think of that sooner?

"Lori is right, the bunker is almost a mile from the parking lot. That was a stupid thing to overlook." Chin is angry at himself for not having thought about that earlier.

"Let's go through the rest of what we know." Kono thinks it's important to take a closer look at their evidence. "Steve was sedated by a drug George most likely obtained from his girlfriend's work. We need to check into her and see if she has anything to do with it. Okay on with the timetable:  
>- Max said that Steve was probably unconscious until one or two a.m. on Saturday<br>- at three a.m. George died in the car crash  
>- at six a.m. Max got involved<br>- at 11 a.m. Chin was informed  
>- at noon our search for Steve started<br>- at four p.m. Steve showed up at the hospital  
>- it took until 8 am today for us to be informed<br>If we look at the timetable, a lot happened in just a few hours. It hasn't even been two days since Steve was kidnapped. We need to find out if Jinny and her friend Mick Douglas are involved and who is behind the kidnapping."

"Do we need to take them into protective custody?"

"No, I don't think so, Lori. But we should bring them in for questioning. Can you two get them?" Chin looks at his cousin and Lori Weston.

"Yeah, sure. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to look into George's Financials. And take a closer look at Bill Thomas and Dan Ukilani. You two be careful, we can't be sure that Steve was the sole target."

"We'll watch out." Kono and Lori leave to bring the potential suspects in for questioning and Chin gets back to his computer search into the financial situation of George Barns.

H50 – H50 – H50

Kono looks over to Officer Weston and wonders if she should say anything or not?

"What?" Lori looks back at Kono kind of irritated; she of course knows that Kono has been watching her since they left HQ. First there were only side glances, but by now she's practically staring at her. When they stop at a red light she can't take it any longer and turns to Kono.

"Nothing."

"Kono!"

"Okay. I was just wondering."

"About what?" Lori concentrates her gaze back to the traffic.

"Why do you think you need to ask permission to see Steve?"

"I don't."

"Sure you do. Sometimes you act like you don't belong on our team. Lori, you might not be Ohana yet, but you're definitely part of the team. Did we give you any indication that you should doubt that? I'm sorry if we did." Kono tries to convey her feelings to Lori. She respects her colleague and even likes her. She is funny and Kono likes teaming up with her. Besides it's nice to have a 'sister' with all the boys around the office.

"No. No, you're all nice and Steve made the rules very clear right from the beginning. It's just, you went through so much before I came along. You're family and sometimes I feel like I intrude on that."

"Lori, you're a friend, not just my team mate. I know that Steve, Danny and Chin have felt the same ever since Korea. You really came through for all of us. You helped us get Steve back. None of us will ever forget that. We trust you."

"You think Steve trusts me? I know that he must have issues with that, after all that has happened to him."

"I don't think we should discuss that, but you need to ask Steve. But I think he trusts you on a professional level. The rest I'd rather not discuss." Kono doesn't think it is right for them to talk about any problems Steve might have after the kind of betrayals he has suffered. Steve is more than a friend to Kono and she would feel like she was betraying him, if she discussed this with Lori.

"You're right. I'm sorry. Do you think he would like to have visitors?"

"Lori, did you listen to anything I said? Of course he would be happy to see us. Jeez, you're a hard head." Kono grins at her.

"Okay, thanks." They just reached the parking lot of the apartment building Jinny's living in. "Mick's truck isn't here, but that Prius over there is Jinny's."

"Lori, you want to go see the manager at the rental office first?"

"Might be a good idea."

They make their way over to the office and have to wait just a couple of minutes before they're greeted by the manager.

"Officers, I'm Hanna Cain. I'm the assistant manager, how may I help you?" The middle aged woman leads the two officers into her office.

"I'm Officer Kalakaua and this is Officer Weston. Ma'am, we'd like to ask you some questions about one of your tenants. Jinny Parker?"

"What kind of questions? I can't give you any personal records on our tenants. Not without a warrant."

"We're not asking for records. We'd just like to know if there have been any problems with her, any complaints? Things like that. Any activity that warranted your action."

"No, not that I know of. Miss Parker is one of our quiet renters. There has never been a problem with her. No complaints from her neighbors. I can't give you any details, but there was never a problem with her rent either."

"Do you know anything about her boyfriend, Mick Douglas?"

"Only that he's a cop."

"Excuse me? He's a police officer?" That is something completely new to Lori. There is nothing in his records about that.

"Well, I think so."

"Why do you think so?" Kono looks at the manager and is as baffled as Lori.

"About two weeks ago, he came by to pick Jinny up. I was out in the parking lot at the time. He came in that blue truck of his and when he got out of it, I could see the badge and the gun on his hip. Now that I think about it, something was different. Mick is always running around in Jeans and just a tee on, but that time he was dressed differently. I thought that he looked really good in his work clothes. Tan cargo pants, white tee and an open button down shirt. It was strange though, they acted differently too. Mick and Jinny are very physical, if you know what I mean? But that day, they acted more like brother and sister."

"He picked her up?"

"Yeah, she had a small suitcase with her. They got in his pickup and drove off. I think Jinny was gone for a few days."

"You're sure that was Mick Douglas?" Kono is asking again.

"What do you mean? Unless he has a brother, it was him."

"How far away were you?"

"Um, I don't know, about fifty feet or so. I was at the other end of the parking lot."

"So you didn't see him up close?"

"No, I didn't. Why?"

"Thank you Mrs. Cain, you've been very helpful. Do you know if Jinny is home?"

"I don't think so, she and Mick went out a couple hours ago in his truck. Would you like me to call her?"

"No, thank you Mrs. Cain. We're going over to her apartment." Lori and Kono get up from their chairs and move to leave, when Hanna Cain stops them.

"Officers, a week later I saw Mick again in the parking lot. He had a different car. I'm not good with cars, but it was a dark blue one. He was standing at the open trunk and there were different guns in it. I could see a shotgun and a rifle, and some handguns. I thought that was for his job as a cop. Thought it must be his police car or something."

"You don't happen to know the license plate?" Of course Kono knows that question was a long shot.

Hanna Cain looks at the two officers, shaking her head. "No idea."

"Thank you Mrs. Cain. We might come back to you with some more questions." Lori told her, following Kono out the door.

They refrain from talking until they were out of earshot. "That must have been Steve. What the hell is going on here? We need to call Danny and then see if Jinny is home." Kono gets her phone out to call Danny, while Lori informs Chin.

H50 – H50 – H50

Detective Danny Williams just got off the phone with Kono and looks down at his sleeping partner, wondering what is going on. He'd never heard of Jinny before, what other kind of secrets is his partner keeping from him?

"Danny?"

"Hey welcome back. How was your nap?" Danny helps Steve get into a more upright position by raising the headrest of the bed. "How is your head?"

"Better, I think. I'm not dizzy anymore. Can I have some more water?" Steve moves into a more comfortable position and it looks like the two hour nap did him some good. He looks more alert and his color has improved as well. "Argh. Remind me not to move my ankle."

Danny hands him an open water bottle, he obtained earlier. And he's glad to see that Steve's hands are not shaking this time.

"What were you just thinking about? You looked like a million miles away. You okay, Danny?"

That question actually makes Danny laugh. Here's his friend, hurt in a hospital bed, probably still feeling pretty crappy and asks 'him' how he's doing. Danny realizes that Steve is still looking at him with a worried expression on his tired face. "I'm fine, Steve. Don't worry. Listen, I need to ask you some questions."

"Can that wait another minute? I need to see the nurse first."

"What is it? Are you in pain? Steve are you alright?"

"I'm good Danny, relax. I'm just uncomfortable and want to get rid of some of this stuff." Steve motions around himself. "One thing in particular. Can you please get the nurse for me?"

It dawns on Danny what his friend is talking about. It just occurs to him that Steve is still stuck with a tube in a very unpleasant place. He can completely understand his discomfort and agrees to go find the nurse. "I'll wait outside until she's done. Hang in there buddy, I'll get Anny."

"Thanks." Steve looks after his friend and hopes that Anny won't take too long.

While Steve is waiting for his nurse to hopefully rid him of some of the wires and tubes, he's testing his mobility. He has no problem sitting up, okay fine, his head starts to hurt more and he's slightly dizzy. But at least he's not keeling over right away. Steve's pretty sure if needed he would even be able to get out of bed. He can move his right hand without any pain and hopes to get rid of the restricting splint soon. Lifting his leg hurts a little on his hip and a lot on his ankle. He doubts that he'll be able to walk without crutches. But he can bend his ankle in all directions, with quite a bit of pain, but it seems that the ligaments are intact. Strained, but everything works. Of course he has no idea how the ankle looks under those thick bandages. Steve's not sure he even wants to know.

All in all, he feels a lot better than the last time he was awake. If he could get rid of that annoying tube, and get some clothing other than this wimpy hospital gown, he would almost be happy. His euphoria gets a little dampened by the next coughing fit, but thankfully it's a mild one and he's done just before Anny enters.

"Commander, good to see you awake. I was coming to you in a few minutes anyway. Dr. Heller ordered to free you of some of this wiring. He's very pleased with your progress."

Before Steve can even utter a word, she's already at work, gently taking the electrodes for the heart monitor off his chest. Next she takes the cuff for the blood pressure off. That thing inflated every few minutes and has been very annoying when he's been awake.

"I'm sorry but the oxygen needs to stay put for a little longer, but I'm pretty sure that's a tube you can live with."

"That's fine. Ehm… how about…?" Steve's blushing and curses himself for it.

"The Foley?" Anny smiles at him, "I'll take that out in a minute. I know it's uncomfortable but it was necessary. You were highly dehydrated and we had to watch your kidneys. But everything is back to normal and Dr. Heller said it can go. When we're done, we'll put you in some clothes. I'm sure that gown is not your idea of comfortable sleep attire." Anny gets a duffel bag out of the closet. Obviously someone, probably Danny, had brought him some clothes.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." His nurse gets to work again, and is very efficient. It only takes her a minute to get the hated catheter out, with a minimum of discomfort. "The splint on your arm will probably come off later tonight. The orthopedic surgeon will take a look at it, but already said it looks very good. So for now we have to work around it a bit. How about we get you into some sweats and T-shirt?"

"Sounds good to me."

Ten minutes later Steve feels like a human again. It's amazing what a difference clothes can make, of course the fact that he's only sporting an IV now, is helping the most.

"I'll tell your friend that he can come back in and I'll bring you something to eat in a little bit. Try to eat that if you can."

"I'll try." Steve's not really hungry, but Anny was so nice and gentle with him, that he will at least try to eat something.

After one last check of his IV and taking his temperature, she leaves. Not even a minute later, Danny's back at his side.

"Hey, look at you. Bet that feels a lot better." Danny settles down in the vacated chair and looks at his friend, who's actually smiling for the first time since he's been in the hospital.

"You have no idea."

"Okay, so can I ask you some questions?"

"Yeah, sure Danny."

"You remember our last conversation? About George Barns and Mick Douglas?"

"Ehm, yeah. George snatched me and Mick is the one who looks like me?"

"Right. Steve do you know Mick or George?"

"No?"

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I don't remember either name."

"Do you know Jinny Parker?"

"Yes of course, I know Jinny. What does she have to do with anything?" He stares at Danny in confusion. "But how do you know Jinny?"

"She's Mick's girlfriend. The one George thought you were having an affair with."

"What?"

"Steve, are you in a relationship with Jinny Parker?"

"What are you talking about? You know I'm with Cath. I mean we're… I would never… you know what I mean. NO, I'm not in a relationship with Jinny. She's Catherine's best friend. They've known each other since middle school. She broke up with her boyfriend four months ago, it was really messy and that's why she moved to Hawaii."

"Steve, calm down. Come on, take some deep breaths. That's it. In and out. Good." Danny tries to get his friend to calm down. Steve got extremely agitated and was practically out of breath after his little speech.

"When did you last see her?"

"About two weeks ago. I offered to drive her to the airport because she was visiting her dad in San Francisco for a few days. Why?"

"You picked her up in the parking lot at her apartment?"

"Yeah."

"She never mentioned a new boyfriend?"

"Danny, I've seen her a couple of times when Cath was here. We're not 'friends', she's the friend of my friend. You know? Cath told her to ask me if she needed help with anything. She called me for the ride. I was wondering why. I thought she wanted to talk about something. She seemed anxious, but she didn't say anything."

"Steve, do you remember that I told you about Dan Ukilani?"

"Yeah, he was the one that went to Duke and told you about the kidnapping."

"Yes. Steve, he was killed. He and his social worker Bill Thomas were shot. Everyone directly involved in your kidnapping is dead."

Steve thinks for a moment in silence, then says, "So, I guess I was the target after all."

"Seems that way. They were both killed by a rifle shot. A rifle was seen in Mick Douglas' car. Our theory at the moment is that Mick Douglas used George and Dan to get you and then killed them."

"Where is Jinny?"

"We don't know. She left this morning with Mick. We have BOLO's out for the both of them. They haven't left the island yet."

"Danny, I need to go to HQ." Steve actually manages to sit up, before he gets pushed back down by Danny.

"Whoa, you are not going anywhere. You stay in that bed like a good little soldier and let us do our job."

"I'm Navy, Danny. You don't understand…"

"Oh, I understand just fine. You, on the other hand don't seem to grasp the situation here. So let me make it clear to you. You have a severe concussion. Your ankle is a total mess and badly infected. Steve, we're talking about close to sepsis. This is serious. Not even to mention your impaired lungs and injured elbow. You will stay right where you are, or I swear I'll get your doctor in here and tell him about your idiotic plan."

"Danny! I know I'm not at my best right now, but…" unfortunately for Steve, he can't finish that sentence, before he is interrupted by another coughing fit.

"I rest my case, Steven."

Steve can only glare at his friend. He lies back, closes his eyes and desperately tries not to throw up in front of Danny. That would go down really well.

"Hey, are you okay? Steve, you feel sick? You want me to call the nurse?" Danny gently asks and lays his hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you. But you need to understand that you're not fit to get up."

"I know that Danny. But I need to get to HQ, because I need a secure line to Admiral Dickens." Steve opens his eyes after the wave of nausea left him.

"Admiral Dickens? Steve, what are you talking about?"

"I can't tell you, Danny. You remember that I'm supposed to meet Cath 'halfway' in a few days?" Steve can't keep the smile off his face. "That visit is partly business. Navy business. Cath and I are both working for NI, and I think this has something to do with that."

"What, you're doing some spy games with your girlfriend?"

"We're not spies." Steve rolls his eyes at his friend. "I can't tell you about it, but I need to talk to the Admiral. We have a secure line in the office."

"I'm sure Chin will be able to get you a secure line here in the hospital. I will get you what you need, and you will be a good boy and will get some sleep. Oh and no matter what this is about, don't think I have forgotten about your little-boy-hell-week." Danny grins at his partner, who just groans but closes his eyes as directed. Not surprisingly it only takes a moment for Steve to go back to sleep.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>Thanks again for reading. <strong>_


	14. Chapter 14 Spreading rumors

_**Thank you so much for all your reviews. I really, really appreciate every single one of them. For whatever reason, I wasn't able to answer all of them. I was thrown out of ffn a few times. So, if you didn't get a reply, it's not because I ignored you.**_

_**Also thanks for all the alerts.  
><strong>_

_**A huge thank you again to Cokie316 for her incredible beta work. It's such fun working with you. And last but definitely not least to Sherry57 for her insight and suggestions. You both rock.**_

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><p><strong>I received some pm's asking about Steve and Danny ending up together? In a romantic relationship. As long as that is not happening on the show, it will NOT happen in my stories. Yes, I do write them heavily on the bromance and friendship, but that is not slash.<strong>

**Just so you know, whatever might be your cup of tea is okay, but you won't find slash in here.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 14 – Spreading rumors<strong>

It's the noise that wakes him. Seems to be a commotion in front of his room, a rather loud one. He would know that accent anywhere, and the high voice of the child makes him smile. "But I want to see my Uncle Steve." It's unmistakable that Gracie is her father's daughter. _Speaking of her father, where is that partner of his?_ Steve knows that he doesn't have the volume to call out loud enough for the people outside his room to hear him. So he presses the call button for the nurse and simply waits. He doesn't have to wait long for Anny to appear again. And in her wake Rachel, Grace and Officer Dale Palani enter.

"Dale, thank you, but it's alright. Rachel and Grace are welcome to stay." Steve tries to speak with his usual authority, but it's a little hard to do, when the room is spinning slightly and his voice is hardly above a whisper.

But obviously being the head of Five-0 is enough for Office Palani to follow his order. "Yes, Sir. If you need me, I'll be right outside. Ma'am." He acknowledges Rachel with a nod of his head and positions himself in front of the door again.

"Anny, thank you for coming. But I'm fine, I just…"

"That's okay Commander, I understand. Call me, if you need anything." She looks at her patient and seems to be convinced that he is indeed fine. She winks at the two visitors who are standing a few feet from the bed as she leaves the room.

"Gracie." Steve smiles at his little visitor, hoping to convey that he's fine and happy to see her.

"Uncle Steve!" Grace Williams sees the smile as an invitation to practically jump her Uncle Steve and she lands with a thud on his bed. Before he can even blink Steve gets a surprisingly gentle hug from Grace.

"Careful Grace, don't hurt the Commander." Rachel steps closer and looks apologetically at Steve.

"No, it's okay. Thank you for coming by, Rachel." Steve looks at Grace, who has settled down on his left side and has a firm grip on his hand.

"Grace saw a news report that you were missing. When Daniel called and told us that you were safe, well, she wouldn't calm down until she saw you. I hope it is alright to come see you this late?"

"That's fine. Thank you for bringing her by. Gracie, how are you?"

"Uncle Steve, why are you whispering? Do you have a cold?"

"Something like that. I can't speak very loud at the moment." Some mild coughing interrupts him again.

"Does it hurt, Uncle Steve?" Grace gently touches the patch on his forehead that conceals the gash from his fall.

"A little. But I'll be fine. I'm really happy that you came to see me. And you don't have to worry about me anymore, Gracie. I'm fine, and I'll be home again really soon." He has no idea when he will be allowed to leave, but Grace doesn't need to know that.

"Can I come over for the weekend again, when I'm with Danno? Can we swim in the ocean?"

"Yes, of course. I don't know how soon I'll be allowed to swim again but we can play on the beach and build another sand castle."

Rachel looks down in surprise at her ex-husband's partner. Who would have thought the big bad SEAL would build sand castles with his partner's daughter? The world is full of surprises. Even though the situation with Daniel and Rachel isn't ideal, a soft smile settles on her face when she sees her daughter sitting on Steve's bed, engaged in a conversation about sand castles, seashells and the best technique for making the castle more stable.

"Grace, honey, we should leave and let Commander McGarrett get some more rest."

"Okay, mommy." Grace bends down to Steve again and gives him another sweet hug and two kisses. "That one you have to give to Danno, and tell him it's from me."

"I will Gracie. Thank you." Steve has a big smile on his face, thinking about giving that kiss to his partner. By doing that at the right time and with the right witnesses, there will be even more rumors. Steve must admit he gets a little kick out of Danny's embarrassment about the whole staff thinking he's Steve's boyfriend. It might have something to do with what Danny said on Friday, and this is harmless payback. Not nice, but Danny was not really nice to him either. Actually, Steve hates to admit it, but he was hurt by it. And it hurts even more that Danny is not willing to talk about it.

Steve is totally surprised when Rachel, kind of out of character, steps up to him and gives him a gentle kiss on the cheek. "My daughter loves you. You're a good man, Steve. I'm glad you're okay," she softly whispers to him. Before he can even answer, she turns, takes Grace's hand and leaves with one last wink, before disappearing from view.

Leaving behind a confused but happy Steve, who's grinning from ear to ear.

H50 – H50 – H50

Mick Douglas looks at his sleeping 'girlfriend'. He made the mistake of becoming attached to her. He should have gotten rid of her when he offed the other three idiots who were close to ruining his plan. When that dimwit kidnapped the SEAL, he couldn't really believe it. How could that schmuck snatch a SEAL? And not just any SEAL, but Steve McGarrett, highly decorated, one of the best. And now the head of the Governor's Task Force. How could Bubblehead Barns, BB as he refers to him, have had so much luck with his stupid plan? Ram the truck and sedate McGarrett? Please!

But be that as it may, BB succeeded. And almost killed the man in the process. Overdosing him on the tranquilizer? That was not funny. Had Mick not intervened and injected McGarrett with the antidote, he'd be dead now, still rotting in that damn bunker. But he doesn't expect a thank you for it, or for putting the backpack and the bricks there for the man to free himself. It was actually rather entertaining watching McGarrett struggle to get out of the bunker. For a while he thought the drugged man would never find his way out, but in the end he did. It was kind of impressive how determined he was. Even while drugged to the gills.

But all that greatly interfered with his own plans. Snatching the guy before he even has the information. Douglas just hopes that the Navy will stick to their original plan and will use McGarrett and Rollins for the operation. If not, his clients won't be happy. To put it mildly. It could cost not only his reputation but actually his head.

He has invested two months to get this show on the road. Two months of pretending to be Mick Douglas, mild mannered personal trainer. He has to smile at the thought of mild mannered. It is just one more week before Lt. Rollins will be back for the briefing. Jinny excitedly told him that her friend will be in Pearl for a couple of days before shipping out again. Now with McGarrett injured, they might even change the plans and get her here sooner than that.

Of course Mick knows that McGarrett would never give him any information. That's why he needs them both, because he is sure that Rollins will tell him everything. She'll just need a little nudge in the right direction. That nudge will be provided by her old friend Jinny, and of course by her lover McGarrett. It will be so much fun torturing them both in front of her. He's sure that it won't take that much to make Rollins talk. Almost a shame that it will be practically over before he can really get started.

Rollins is not a trained operative, she's a communications officer with no front experience. But she has been present at every meeting and has all the information McGarrett needs for doing his job. But Mick Douglas will make sure that the SEAL won't succeed and that the only ones to die will be McGarrett and Rollins. And maybe Jinny, but he hasn't decided her fate yet.

H50 – H50 – H50

Right after Rachel and Grace left, a new face enters his hospital room. Again accompanied by Officer Palani.

"Commander, I'm Robert Wise, your orthopedic surgeon. I set your elbow and would like to take another look at it."

"Oh, okay." Steve sits up a little more and looks at Palani, "I think it's okay for you to leave."

"Sorry, Chin will have my head if I leave you alone with Dr. Wise."

They're all saved from any further discussion by Danny, who's finally back from his run to HQ.

"Dr. Wise, good to see you again. Thank you Officer Palani, I'll take it from here."

"Yes, Sir." He nods at McGarrett and Wise before he leaves.

"Hey Danny, where have you been?"

"Tell you later. I'll just wait over here until your doc is done. Unless you want me to leave while he takes a look at you?"

"No, that's fine. You can stay." Steve watches Dr. Wise lifting his right arm, taking a look at his wrist and fingers.

"Can you move your wrist without pain?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Can you hold your arm in that position please? I'm going to take the splint off."

Steve keeps his arm slightly elevated so that Dr. Wise can remove the bandages keeping the splint in place.

"Does it hurt to keep your arm up?"

"No, it's fine."

"Okay, I'm almost done. When the splint is off, don't try to move your elbow." Robert Wise takes the last part of the bandage off and carefully removes the splint and the underlying bolstering. "Good, not as swollen as I had feared. This looks very good. You were extremely lucky, Commander. It was a very simple dislocation. You should be back to full strength in less than a week. Now let's see how your movement is."

Dr. Wise very carefully moves the joint, watching his patient for signs of pain.

"That hurts a little, yeah, that." Steve tries to keep the doctor from moving his arm any further.

"It's alright. I think we can keep the splint off. Which does not mean however, you're allowed to move your arm freely. Keep it mostly still and elevated. But you can do these exercises, we just did, up to the point of pain. Do that about every 30 minutes. If you feel pain, stop. And don't lift anything with your right arm. I'll tell the nurse to get you some more pillows so that you can lay your arm down a little more comfortably. Commander, this looks really good."

Steve smiles at the doctor, because it _feels_ really good. To be able to move the arm relatively freely is a huge improvement. Now he only needs to get rid of the IV. "How about my ankle? Nobody could tell me exactly what's wrong with it, I only hear that it's messed up. Not exactly a very clear explanation."

"Maybe not, but it's pretty accurate anyway. I was told that you had two handcuffs around your ankle?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Well, there are deep lacerations right above your ankle. One in particular is very deep. It looks like the metal was pushed into the flesh with great force. It cut deep down and injured the bone surface. Such an injury can lead to inflammation of the bone itself. Luckily that didn't happen. And we're optimistic that it won't. There was a lot of dirt in the wounds, which is why you had such a violent infection. But you were very lucky that no nerves or blood vessels were cut. However the muscle tissue was not so lucky. And to top it off, you also sprained your ankle."

"Sounds great. What about the rest of my leg? It aches from my ankle up to my groin. And my hip hurts."

"I'm not sure what was done to you. But you strained a couple of muscles in your leg and pulled a groin muscle. Your hip is bruised, but no bone damage. My guess is that you were dragged along by your ankle. I'm afraid you're going to have some lingering pain for a while."

"When can I get up?"

"You feel like getting up?"

"Not really, but I thought maybe to the bathroom?" Steve hopes he can soon leave this bed. He hates staying in bed all day and since he's not so dizzy anymore, he wants to get up. He also decides to ignore Danny's snorting from the other side of the room.

"We'll see about that tomorrow. If your elbow is stable enough, I see no reason why you shouldn't be up on crutches. I'll talk to Dr. Heller about your head injury, but I'm sure if you feel up to it, you can do that. So, if it's okay with Heller, I'd say we get you out of bed in the morning. Try to be patient until then and don't try anything foolish."

"Deal. I can stay in bed till morning." That actually sounds rather good to Steve. A few more hours, most of which he will be asleep anyway, won't make a big difference.

"Good. I'll send the nurse with some pillows and will see you in the morning. If you experience any unusual pain, please tell the nurse and I'll come take another look. Good night, gentlemen."

Danny moves back next to Steve's bed and sits down in the chair. "That doesn't sound too bad. I mean, it could be worse."

"Easy for you to say." Steve grumbles and tries to push himself up into a more comfortable position.

"You want any help?" Danny watches his friend for another moment, very unsuccessfully trying to get more comfortable using only one arm to push himself up. Not to mention having a head that is probably hurting again after all the talking and prodding by the doctor.

"Yeah, thanks."

Danny bends over Steve and says, "Put your arm around my neck. How the hell did you slide that far down in the bed anyway?"

Danny manages to pull the larger man up in his bed, but almost falls onto Steve in the progress. Of course right at that moment, Anny comes in with the promised pillows. Steve finds the situation more than amusing, and thinks this couldn't have gone better even if he had planned it.

"Ehm… Gentlemen, everything okay in here?"

"Fine, Anny, thank you. Are those for me? Danno, could you please hand me those pillows?" Steve plays this just to perfection; at least if Danny's flustered face and death glare are any indication.

Anny gives the pillows to Danny and practically flees the room.

"What the hell are you doing?" Danny glares at Steve and puts the pillows not so gently under his arm.

"What do you mean? Argh, watch it." Steve glares back at Danny and rubs his elbow.

"Sorry. Is it okay like that?"

"Yeah, thanks. I don't know what you're talking about, I'm not doing anything."

Danny looks at his friend and tries to figure out if he's messing with him or not. And if so, why? If he's honest, Steve doesn't look like he's scheming anything, he looks rather tired and hurting.

"Are you in pain?"

"My leg hurts."

"You want me to call Anny again?"

"No, it's not too bad. Danny, I had another visitor earlier."

"A visitor? Who?"

"One who wants me to give you a kiss." Steve grins at his friend.

"Grace was here? How?"

"Rachel came by with her. Said Gracie wouldn't calm down until she could see me. I invited you both over to my place next weekend, hope that's okay with you?"

"Yes, of course. Rachel brought her? Wow."

"Yeah. Danny, she was really nice."

"Huh. Well, I'm sorry I missed Monkey, but I'm happy that she saw you. Grace was very upset, you know? She saw some news report by accident and called me, making me promise to call as soon as you were back. My Monkey never doubted that we'd find you."

Both men fall silent for a minute, thinking about Danny's little girl.

"Danny, what about Admiral Dickens? I really need to talk to him. Can Chin get me a secure line?"

"Oh, we actually can do you one better. Your Admiral will come see you in the morning. I explained the situation to him and he agreed to come here."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Why is that surprising?"

"He's the Admiral, he doesn't do hospital visits."

"Well, I don't know about that, but he sounded very concerned for you. He asked me several times if you're alright. Have you known him for some time?"

"Not really. I…"

"I get it… it's classified."

"Well… after the incident with Lt. Jacks, I was called into the Admiral's office. My training weekend was coming up, remember the long weekend I took off?"

"Yeah, you went to re-qualify for… diving I think."

"Not exactly. I wasn't on a training weekend. I went to Norfolk to attend a briefing. The first of six. The others were down here in Pearl."

"And they were about?"

"You know I can't tell you that, Danny."

"Oh, that's really convenient, isn't it? When you don't want to talk about something, it's classified."

"It's not 'convenient', Danny. It's an oath I took. I'm sorry you can't accept that there are things I can't tell you. It isn't because I don't want to, Danny. It's because I can't.

"I know. And I do accept that. But it still makes me mad, okay?"

"Okay." Steve lies back on his pillow; he feels really sick all of a sudden and his voice is almost completely gone after all the talking.

"Hey, you okay?"

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Steve tries to swallow the rising bile back down and ride out the wave of nausea. Until now, he had been so happy that his concussion hadn't made him throw up. He hates puking.

Danny watches his friend and waits for Anny, who he called as soon as Steve said he felt sick. He knows, of course that nausea is one of the main side effects of a concussion and is actually surprised that Steve has seemed relatively fine up till now.

"Steve, you called? What's the problem?" Anny goes straight to her patient, noticing the sheen of sweat on his forehead. "Steve, are you in pain?"

"Feel sick."

"It came on suddenly. Can you give him something for the nausea?" Danny asks her.

"He's already on anti-nausea medication through his IV. Steve you feel like you need to puke?"

"Think so."

Anny puts the basin in easy reach, in case Steve needs it. "Steve, your temperature is up a little, and I think you overdid it a bit with all the talking. Listen, I'm going to lower your headrest and help you turn onto your left side. And I'll give you something to make you a bit more comfortable." She's already injecting meds into his IV-line and lowers him down, so that he can comfortably turn onto his side. "See, now we arrange the pillows some. Is your arm okay like this? Does it hurt, or your leg?"

"Hmm, no, it's fine." All the while Steve never opened his eyes.

"You still feel sick or is the nausea better now?"

"Hmm."

"Okay." Anny keeps gently rubbing his back, but looks up from her patient over to Danny. "Your partner needs to rest a little. Come here please, you can take over until he's asleep. Just gently rub his back like this. That always helps." Anny motions for Danny to take her place.

Danny looks down at his partner and can see that he has a soft smile on his face. He's enjoying this way too much. But just as Anny said, it only takes a minute for Steve's breathing to even out.

While Danny was getting his friend to sleep, Anny checked the IV and the bandages on his leg. Satisfied with everything, she's about to leave, but whispers, "you two are very good together." She smiles at Danny and is out the door, before Danny can utter another word. But he swears that he heard a soft giggle from his 'sleeping' partner.

H50 – H50 – H50


	15. Chapter 15 The talk

_**I still have some trouble with sending out pm's. Most of the time when I write an answer to one of your reviews and click the 'send' button, nothing happens. So I honestly have no idea if any of you got a response. I'm sorry if you didn't.**_

_**I'm really grateful for all your support and all your reviews are very much appreciated. Thank you.**_

_**But also a thank you to everyone who is just reading and not commenting. You're also appreciated.**_

_**I feel the need to clear something up. Again. Did that last chapter, but I'm still getting questions about it. :-) Steve and Danny are JUST friends. This is NOT a slash story. Nothing wrong with slash, if that is your thing. I just don't write it at the moment. If our two heroes will ever be put together by CBS (a warning, don't hold your breath) – then I will write them as a couple. Until then, you won't find slash in my stories. No matter how hard you're squinting. :-)**_

_**Thanks again to the two best betas out there. **_

_**Cokie316 – everyone should head over and read her new story right away, if you haven't already. Sorry, shameless promotion here. **_

_**And to Sherry57. Thank you girls!**_

_**Enough talking now, on with the story.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 15 – The talk<strong>

It's six a.m. when Danny re-enters Steve's hospital room, after spending a short night on the second bed. His partner had slept right through the night. Danny is sure that the medication Anny injected last night contained not only anti-nausea medicine but also a sedative. But he doesn't care much, as long as his friend had a restful night. He's still in dream land, that's why Danny left to answer his phone.

HPD called with the information that Mick Douglas' car was found at Dillingham Airfield. But no Mick Douglas or Jinny Parker on any flight lists. HPD is still looking into all private charter companies that might have flown them out. But so far without any luck.

Danny goes over to his friend, who is again lying on his side and looks deeply asleep. He hopes that Steve will be a bit more clear-headed this morning. The drug should have mostly left his system by now. Max initially said the drug could have lingering effects for about 72 hours. But further blood tests showed drugs in his system that would counteract the effect of the tranquilizer. They don't have an explanation yet of how the drug was administered or by whom. Max has a theory, naturally, but Danny is not very eager to believe it. None of them want to believe the theory because it's kind of 'out there'. Danny hopes to discuss it with Steve and hopes that he remembers a little more about what happened during his captivity.

Danny settles down in the chair next to Steve's bed and watches his friend who looks completely relaxed. Danny has to smile when Steve scrunches his face up a little a couple of minutes later, obviously in the waking process. He doesn't look to be in pain, more like he's having a hard time regaining consciousness. Danny would normally lightly touch the waking man, but he made that mistake once; touching Steve while the man was semi-awake. He found himself on the floor in a second flat, pinned down in a choke-hold by a wide awake SEAL. He will not repeat that mistake ever again.

"Steve?" Danny softly calls out to his partner.

"Fmomin" Even though Danny is pretty versed in Steve-speak, that even he can't understand.

"What?"

"Fivemominutes."

"Come on, Steven. The sun is up. Rise and shine. I heard they'll let you out of bed this morning." That actually does the trick with amazingly fast speed. Steve's eyes practically pop open. He looks a little bleary eyed at Danny, but he'll take what he can get. "Good morning Sunshine, how do you feel?"

"Felt better." Steve's voice still sounds a little gravely, but it's stronger than yesterday. He didn't cough much during the night. At least Danny didn't get woken up by any coughing fits his partner suffered.

"Yeah, I can imagine. Are you in any pain?"

"No, not really. Got a headache although it's much better than yesterday. What time is it?"

Danny looks at his friend; this is not what he expected. Steve is speaking completely 'normal'. He doesn't appear to be dazed or fuzzy at all. "Just past six."

"Huh. She knocked me out. Guess I need to have a word with the doc about that. Did you guys find Mick or Jinny yet?" Steve rolls onto his back and grimaces when he moves his leg and it is no longer resting on the soft pillows. "Danny, could you get the nurse please? I need to go to the bathroom. And I NEED a shower."

"Yeah, be right back. Stay there, don't get up on your own, Steven." Danny looks at his friend who's already half out of bed. "Stay."

"Yes, Sir."

It only takes a minute for Danny to reappear, with a nurse in tow.

"Commander, good morning. You probably don't remember me, I'm Tracy. We met yesterday, but you were pretty much out of it."

"Sorry, don't remember. I'd like to get up."

"Dr. Heller said if you feel up to it, you can try to get out of bed. What do you say about taking a shower? You look like you can do that." Tracy smiles encouragingly at him.

"Sounds great." Steve's almost half out of bed, when he again gets stopped by Tracy.

"Not so fast, Mister. First you sit up and wait a minute, see if you get dizzy. Then you try to stand up with two crutches. Your orthopedist said you can use them this morning, but you need to be a little careful with your elbow, don't put too much weight on your arm. If all that goes well, we go to the bathroom. I will waterproof your leg and then you can take a shower. Sitting down. If I get the feeling you can't handle that at any point, you will go right back to bed. And don't even think about lying to me, commander. I will not have you face planting. You got all that?"

"Yes, ma'am." Steve learned long ago which fight to pick and which one to sit out. This is one he can't win. So he slowly sits up on the edge of the bed. His head had started hurting the second he was completely vertical, but he decides to ignore it.

"Your head hurts, doesn't it?"

"Yeah."

"You're due for another dose of pain meds in half an hour. You want me to get them now?"

"Will they knock me out?"

"No, you're off the heavy painkillers. No narcotics for you anymore."

"Okay. Can I get them before the shower, please?"

"Sure, be right back. Detective, please watch him for a minute." She steps away from Steve when Danny moves next to him.

"Hey, how are you holding up?" Danny stands next to his friend who's still sitting on the edge of the bed.

"My leg hurts all the way up to my hip. But my arm feels fine and I'm not dizzy."

"And your head?"

"Don't ask." Steve knows the concussion will cause a headache for a few days to come.

"That bad, huh? I'm sure you'll feel better with the painkillers."

Tracy is back with his medication, which she immediately injects into his IV-port. "This should help really fast. Thank you, detective. Could you hand us the crutches please?" She motions for Danny to get them out of the corner while she hovers very close to Steve, afraid if she steps away he would crumble to the floor. She disconnects the IV-Bag while they wait for Danny to grab the crutches. "Okay, Steve, moment of truth. You feel up to this?"

Steve looks at the crutches and the distance to the bathroom. Where he really needs to be soon. It hurts to move his leg, the pulled muscles don't make it any easier, but he's sure he's able to do this. "Yeah. I can do it."

"Okay. Steve, the second you get dizzy, you tell me."

"I will."

Tracy motions for Danny to step closer again and together they help Steve stand up, with his injured leg off the ground. They can both see that he needs a moment to get his bearings, but he's pretty stable standing on only one leg. For a guy who has been lying down for the last day-and-a-half, he's doing very well.

"Good. Steve, take the crutches and try to take your first step. Don't worry, we're right here."

Steve takes them and makes his way easily over to the bathroom.

"You've been on crutches before." Tracy calls out to him.

"For two months a few years back." Steve grins at Danny and Tracy, happy to be back on his feet.

"Two months?" Danny can't help but ask.

"Long story."

"Long time." Danny shakes his head at his friend, letting him know that this conversation is not over.

"Detective, if you like you can go get some breakfast, the commander will need some time in the bathroom. Come back in about half an hour and he should be back in bed," Tracy informs Danny while she helps Steve maneuver through the door.

"Okay. Steve, behave yourself." Danny winks at his friend and leaves him in Tracy's capable hands.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny Williams walks into Steve's room exactly half an hour later and is surprised to see his friend sitting on his bed, fully dressed and munching on some pancakes.

"Danny! Come in, you want some pancakes? They're really good." Steve has one of them on his fork and waving it around, threatening to throw it across the room.

"Nah, I'm good, thank you." Danny smiles and tries to stay out of the way of the abused pancake. "I take it your shower went well?"

"Perfect. Actually, I feel really good." Steve mumbles between bites of syrup covered pancakes. Something Danny has never seen Steve eat. "What are you looking at?"

"Never saw you as a pancake kind of guy. But I'm glad to see you eating."

"Yeah, well, they don't have any decent granola. So why not indulge in something that is actually edible? Even though I'm not really hungry, they said 'no eating, no getting up again'." He grins at his friend and puts another chunk of the sweet treat into his mouth.

"They give you coffee?" Danny eyes the cup suspiciously.

"No. It's tea." And with that, Steve pushes the plate with his half eaten pancakes away. "Not sure, this is going to stay down," he admits, laying his head back and looking rather pathetically at his friend.

Danny decides diversion is the best tactic to get his partner's mind off the sudden nausea. "Can I ask you some more questions?"

"What about?"

"You remember what we talked about yesterday?" Danny asks while he drags a chair across the room to sit next to Steve's bed.

"We talked about several things, Danny. Which one?"

"Mick and Jinny."

"What about them? Have you found them yet?"

"No, but we found his truck at Dillingham Airfield. No sign of Jinny or Mick though. Steve, we have no evidence that either one of them is involved, other than the witness seeing some guns in his trunk. Can you remember anything more about the abduction? Max told us they ran more tests and found evidence of another drug in your system. One that would counteract the tranquilizer. Can you remember anyone being with you while you were in that bunker?"

"I'm not sure, Danny. I think someone was there when I woke up. He called me Mick, but I can't remember much. I had this incredible pain in my gut, I remember that I screamed. I'm sorry, Danny, it's all really hazy. I do remember feeling really cold… and sick. I must have blacked out again, because the next I knew, it wasn't dark anymore. It's not much help, is it?"

"No, it's okay, Steve. Max said that you probably wouldn't remember much after receiving the drug."

"Danny, how did I get there? You told me George drugged me, but how did I end up in the bunker? How did he get me there?"

"We don't know yet. That's why I was hoping you'd remember a second person. A partner of his."

"No, sorry." Steve looks at his friend and can see the frustration of not being able to get closer to solving the case. "Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think I'm a good friend?" Steve asks very softly, hoping to finally be able to talk about Friday.

"What?"

"On a personal level, I mean. I know we're a good team. I learned in the SEALs you can only be as good as your team, and you have to rely on your team or you will accomplish nothing. You're a great partner, and I hope I'm not too bad myself. But Danny, am I a good friend?"

"Yeah. Yes, you are. You're my best friend, Steven. You know that."

"Then why didn't you want me to meet your friends from Jersey? Did I do something to upset you? Am I too much of an embarrassment to meet your friends?" Steve is speaking so softly that Danny needs to strain to even hear him.

"I'm sorry, Steve," Danny begins, hesitantly. "I am truly sorry." Danny looks at his friend, and for probably the first time in his life he's not using his hands to make a point, knowing this was too important to get distracted by his normal behavior. "You are my best friend, and you could never embarrass me. You are a great friend." Neither Steve nor Danny are people who express their feelings straight out, but like to cover them with sarcasm and words that would normally be used as insults. But this time Danny feels the need to choose the words 'normal' people say. "I love you like a brother, more even. I am deeply sorry for hurting you. Those people are not my friends, Steven. And it's not you I'm embarrassed about, but them. I'm not one of them anymore… but I was. And I felt ashamed to show you that 'old me'. I know you wouldn't see me any differently, no matter what. But those idiots, and no, that's not a term of endearment, are still so much like I was years ago." A small smile creeps on Danny's face, thinking about all the 'terms of endearment' he uses for his moron of a Neanderthal partner. "I couldn't face you, seeing me in them. Making bad jokes about people like you."

"People like me?"

Danny groans, he really needs to work on his word choice. "You, as in guys in the Navy."

"Oh, you guys don't like the Navy?"

"What? No. Steven, forget that." Danny looks up from the floor, where his gaze wandered; he has looked everywhere but at Steve in the last couple of minutes. But now he does, and sees his friend grinning at him like a big goof, knowing that Steve understands him and forgave him for his hurtful words and actions on Friday. "I'm sorry, Steve."

"It's okay, Danny. I wouldn't want you to meet some of my old buddies either." Steve smiles at his friend. "So, did you have fun with them?"

"No. All I could think of was that I could have been sitting on your beach with a cold beer and a barbecue with burgers and steak. Instead I was sitting in a dark bar with half drunken idiots making stupid jokes."

For the first time in several days, Steve is laughing and it only takes a moment for Danny to chime in.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Mick, why are you doing this? Please, I don't understand." Jinny Parker looks at her boyfriend of three months, her gaze full of confusion and fear. "Please, I did everything you asked, I didn't tell them about knowing Steve. What do you want from me?"

Mick Douglas looks at his 'girlfriend' handcuffed to the bedpost and knows that he has to eventually kill her. He likes her, yeah sure, but he can't take her with him. She would become a liability. No, she has to die. Right after McGarrett and Rollins.

He contacted his clients last night. They were concerned after learning that McGarrett is in the hospital. But he was able to ease their worries, assuring them everything is going as planned. They will soon know what McGarrett knows about the operation. And whether that knowledge is a danger to their organization. Personally, Mick thinks it's a waste of time, money and effort to go after McGarrett after all these years.

But his clients are suddenly concerned that the commander will put one and one together and will see the big picture. Not completely out of the question. His new 'mission' might bring up some old memories, and that could be fatal. Mick Douglas doesn't have all the details about the op that went so wrong for his clients all those years back, but he knows that McGarrett received commendations for his actions. His clients spent years in prison and McGarrett got promoted.

Not a fair trade in their eyes. But he knows his clients are not after McGarrett for revenge, they are not that petty. They see him as a threat to their dealings. And that is something they can't tolerate. They want Mick to extract the Intel McGarrett has on them and neutralize the threat.

He always loved the term 'neutralize'. It sounds so harmless. It sounds nothing like what it really means. When he neutralizes something, it's always a bloody and painful mess for the object that needs neutralization. He knows he's good at his job, having a spotless record. One hundred percent success rate. He was taught well. By the best. But to be fair, he never had to face a SEAL before. He never had to face the whole freaking Navy before. And he never had to face Five-0. Those pesky detectives are grating on his nerves. They came way too close for comfort. That little detective and the blond questioning him; that was a close call. Jinny did a good job back then. Maybe he needs to rethink her fate some more.

But right now, they are looking at the wrong part of the island for him and his 'girl'. He knows they won't find him in time. Mick Douglas doesn't exist anymore, and Jinny disappeared with him.

Now he's Alan Bolton. And another nameless victim who will wash up on some beach after he's done with his job and has disposed of Jinny Parker.

H50 - H50 - H50

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading. Hope you liked it. Let me know.<strong>


	16. Chapter 16 Admiral Dickens

**Chapter 16 – Admiral Dickens **

Rear Admiral Charles Dickens, yes his parents were obviously fans of the Victorian novelist, has a commanding presence for sure. He is at least two inches taller than Steve; and Danny is sure that he has 40 pounds on him, without looking out of shape at all. Danny looks at the uniform and counts one star, which means he is the lowest on the food chain of admirals. He had listened when Steve explained the Navy's rank system to Grace for her school project on Military bases in Hawaii.

What Danny learned is that Steve was relatively young to be promoted to Lt. Commander all those years back. Not the youngest but not at the average age either. If he had stayed on active duty, Danny is sure that he'd be a full commander by now. Danny sometimes wonders if Steve regrets giving up his Navy career for Five-0.

"Admiral, Sir." Steve almost manages to stand at attention, if it weren't for the crutches

"Please, Commander, stay seated." Admiral Dickens comes fully into the room shadowed by Detective Williams. "I see you're not quite back on your feet yet, Commander."

"No, Sir. The concussion is giving me a bit of trouble, Sir." Steve has been fighting against a bout of dizziness for a few minutes now.

"Well, then, we will keep this short. Detective, would you excuse us please?"

"What?"

"The matters I have to discuss with Commander McGarrett are classified. I'm afraid they are way beyond your clearance."

"With all due respect, _Admiral_." It almost sounds like an insult, which earns him a death glare from his partner and a raised eyebrow from Admiral Dickens. "The head of the governor's task force was kidnapped and injured because of what you're going to discuss. That makes it _my_ business."

"I fully understand your position, Detective. Believe me, I do. Your friend, partner and boss got injured. I get it, but this is Navy business. Commander McGarrett is still a Navy Officer and this has nothing to do with his side job."

"Side job?" Danny is ready to launch into a rant, when he hears Steve talking.

"Danny. Please wait outside for a few minutes. I'll be alright." Steve's voice is soft but it's clear that there is no room for discussion.

"Okay. Fine. I'll be right in front of the door. Holler if you need me." Danny doesn't spare a glance at Admiral Dickens. One last look at his partner and he's out the door.

"Sir, I'm sorry about that."

"No worries, Commander. He's your partner, I understand." Admiral Dickens smiles at Steve as he sits down opposite him at the small table. "So, tell me, how are you?"

It's clear to Steve that Admiral Dickens is not asking out of courtesy, but because he needs to know if Steve will be able to do his job.

"A lot better since the drug is out of my system. I might need the crutches for a few days, my ankle is pretty messed up. And the concussion is severe, that is what is giving me the most problems. But I think I will be okay in a few days."

"So everything can go as planned?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Lt. Rollins will arrive in Pearl in a couple of hours. I take it there will be no problems with her working under your command?"

"No, Sir. Absolutely not."

"You will suspend your relationship as long as she is in your chain of command?" Admiral Dickens has no problem with people romantically involved working together as long as they can keep the professional side and their love life separated.

"Yes, Sir. We have worked together a few times. There will be no problem."

"I didn't expect anything less from you, Commander."

"Sir, I would like to ask permission to give some details to Detective Williams. I need to tell him something. He doesn't need to know every little detail, but I would like to at least tell him what this is about.

"Permission granted. Just make sure it stays in a small circle. I trust you to know what _not_ to say."

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Admiral."

"Very well, then. You have any idea why you were kidnapped? Does this have anything to do with your mission?"

"Sir, I have not been able to discuss any details of the kidnapping with my team yet. I haven't really been coherent the last two days. I will confer with my team and look at the Intel they have gathered and I will let you know as soon as I know something. But to be on the safe side, I don't want Lt. Rollins to be left alone. I want a protective detail for her until we can determine if there is a threat or not."

"Good, I will arrange that as soon as she lands."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Commander, the Intel you have on the organization is invaluable. Your knowledge will bring them down. You have already done that once. With the previous Intel along with the new data, you should be able to see the connections. You have all the information first hand, and even though we have your files and recordings, it's what's in your head that will bring them down. So, you better get that head of yours in gear."

"Yes, Sir."

"I bet your friend thinks you're going on some wild mission with guns blazing?"

Steve has to chuckle at that picture, "I'm sure he does."

"He would be pretty shocked to see you behind a desk doing your analytical work. It's a shame you find it a bit boring because you were always able to put the pieces together."

"Sir, there are a lot of people who are doing the job much better than I ever could."

"Don't underestimate your approach to it. You gathered the Intel first hand, and then your conclusions were always spot on. I think it was a very promising concept, using SEALs in Naval Intelligence."

"Thank you, Sir."

"When will you be released?"

"I hope later today, Sir."

"Good. Lt. Rollins should be here around noon. Both of you need to be at the base tomorrow at 0900 h."

"Yes, Sir. Will do."

"Good, Commander. I'll see you tomorrow. Don't get up, I'll find my way out." Admiral Dickens takes his cover and in three long strides, he is out the door, giving Danny only a dismissive 'detective' in passing.

H50 – H50 – H50

Alan Bolton, a name he still needs to get used to, looks down at the timetable of his latest operation. He only has a window of a few minutes to get the commander and Lt. Rollins. Not a lot of time, but hopefully enough.

He had everything planned to the last detail and just a few minutes ago he received confirmation of their schedule in the morning. They won't even know what hit them before it is too late. Their driver, Sergeant Tom Hill, US Marine Corps, is scheduled to pick them up at 08.00 h and transport them to Hickam Joint Military Base. Unfortunately, neither McGarrett nor Rollins will be there for the pick-up. By that time tomorrow his job will be done, and they will be either dead or close to it.

For a while he was worried that they will transport McGarrett right out of the hospital to the base, but he just learned that McGarrett will be released in a few hours. Undoubtedly that little detective will be glued to his side. Well, a small obstacle. Most likely the commander will still be more or less incapacitated due to his head injury. Bolton wondered why he is getting released this early after a severe concussion, but it fits perfectly into his plan, so he's not questioning his luck too much.

As soon as Rollins arrives at McGarrett's house, the protective detail will be pulled off and Five-0 will take over. Their first big mistake. They should have let the Marines handle the protection; but that's the flaw of Five-0, they are overconfident. Those four officers will be no problem.

Bolton checks his weapons one last time and looks over to Jinny, who has gotten very quiet in the last hours. She is watching his every move with fearful eyes. He still hasn't decided what to do with her after everything is over.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Steven, this is a dumb idea." Danny Williams still tries to reason with his friend. "Look at you; you can barely manage to stay upright. I bet you're ready to puke your guts out by now. Jesus, Steve, sit down before you fall down." Danny pushes his friend not so gently back into the chair.

"I'm fine, Danny."

"Yeah, right. Have you looked in a mirror lately? You don't look fine. Not to me, or anyone else for that matter."

"Okay! I'm not fine. But I can do this." Steve's pleading with his friend to listen to him. "Danny, I don't see any other way. We need to draw him out. He will come after me. And Cath. I want him to do that in a controlled environment. He will make his move tonight. I know it. Please, Danny, trust me on this. I know how he works."

"How would you know? You don't even know him. How will you know what he's gonna do? Tell me that, Steven."

"Because that's what I would do. I would go after the target tonight, where he's most vulnerable. Think about it, Danny. Just out of the hospital, not even able to stand without getting dizzy and sick," he says, grinning at Danny after admitting that. "Still on heavy antibiotics and painkillers, which by the way I'm not going to take anymore."

"Steve, please listen to me. You're not able to protect yourself…"

"No, I'm not. But I have you for that. You're my back up, remember? I count on you to keep Cath safe while I can't do that."

"Yeah, and who keeps you safe, while I guard your little lieutenant?"

"Don't let her hear you say that, Danny. Besides I will be right next to her at all times. So it shouldn't be too hard to keep both of us in your sight."

"Oh, great. I'm really not interested in that kind of show."

"Danny, I highly doubt that I'm capable of any kind of show. You don't have to worry." Steve can't help but smile at his friend. He knows of course they are taking a risk. He is in no shape to defend himself. His doctor warned him that even a light hit to the head could have serious consequences. Not to mention that he still suffers the effects of his current concussion. His vision is still a little blurry, dizziness has been a constant companion this morning and he already lost his breakfast. Unfortunately, those pancakes didn't taste nearly as good the second time around "They are going to do an MRI before they release me. I will only leave if it is clear. Okay?"

"Fine. But I still think this is a stupid idea."

"Duly noted, Danny. Now, can we please go over the plan one more time?"

"Why? We just talked it all through."

"Yeah, but I'm not firing on all cylinders right now. Let's make sure we're on the same page." Steve is pretty sure he remembers all the important parts, but his throbbing head doesn't make it easy to think straight.

"Okay. Cath will land at Hickam at noon, 1200 h for you Navy guys. She will be escorted to the hospital after a short briefing. She should arrive no later than two p.m. and you should be done with your final tests by then. We will take over the protective detail and escort you and Catherine to your place. HPD will have a cruiser out in front of your home. Lori and Kono will man the surveillance van while Chin and I are in the house. And then we will wait patiently for your assassin to snatch you." Danny is shaking his head, not liking the plan one bit.

"What about the beach?"

"What about it?"

"Who will watch the beach?"

"Kono and Lori have set up some cameras, they will watch for any trouble. But Steve, _you_ won't be _on_ the beach. _You_, my friend, will be in your bed. That is not negotiable; you will not leave the house. Are we clear about that?"

"Yes, Danny. I promised you already, I won't leave the house. Relax."

"I will relax when this is over. Does Catherine know about her friend? That she is missing?"

"Not from me." Steve hasn't even spoken to Cath since she witnessed his attack yesterday.

"You haven't coughed in a while, can you breathe better?"

"Yeah, it's a lot better. I have enough air to actually have a conversation." Something he had a problem with just twelve hours ago.

They both fall silent for a moment; of course it doesn't take long for Danny to finally speak his mind about Admiral Dickens.

"You know, I really don't like him."

"Who?"

"Your admiral."

"He's not _my_ admiral, Danny. Why do you have a problem with Navy Officers?"

"I don't have a problem with them at all."

"Oh, is that so? You're always making fun of us…"

"Whoa, hold it right there. I'm not making fun of you. Or anyone else in the military, for that matter. I have the highest respect for everyone who serves his or her country. Why are you grinning? This is so not funny, you moron."

"Highest respect, huh? So tell me, Danny, why don't you like Admiral Dickens?"

"I don't like people who always look down at other people."

"Danny, he's a high ranking senior officer. He's way up over me."

"I'm not talking about you. He looked at you at eye level. He has a lot of respect for you. He looked down on me, and don't you dare make a short-joke." Danny is glaring at his friend, who is biting his lower lip. Danny must admit he practically handed this one to him.

"No, Danny, he didn't. He only stated the facts. You're not Navy, so you had to leave. That's just how it is."

"He's arrogant."

"No, yeah, well, maybe a little. But you thought I was an arrogant idiot when we first met. Now you only think I'm an idiot." Steve grins at his friend, fully knowing that 'idiot' is not the word Danny used. "Confidence is often mistaken for arrogance. To get to the position of admiral, I guess you have to be pretty sure of your abilities. Maybe we are kind of arrogant to assume that we can always trust our training and accomplish the mission. But if we begin to doubt that, we would hesitate in tricky situations, which could be fatal for ourselves or those around us. I know that I seem arrogant to people who don't know me, and I'm sure Admiral Dickens has met a lot more people who think that about him. So maybe he is kind of high and mighty, but he has reason to be. You don't become an admiral for nothing, Danny."

"That may be so, but I still don't like him."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, okay. You don't have to like him, Danny. Hell, I don't even have to like him. He's my CO and I can't choose my CO's. I have had a few I couldn't stand, but that is nothing I dwell on. He's my CO, period."

"That simple, huh?"

"Yeah, Danny. It's that simple."

"You trust him?"

"Why wouldn't I trust him?"

"Oh, I don't know, Steven. You didn't tell him about your brilliant plan, for one. You didn't tell him that you will be the bait. I'm sure he would have had something to say about the fact that his precious genius plans to put himself in the line of fire."

"Precious genius? Are you feeling alright, Danny? What are you talking about?" Steve pauses and it seems that it suddenly dawns on him, "you listened to our conversation, Danny!"

Danny motions to his ear, "I guess you forgot about our open com link?"

"Shit." Steve actually had forgotten they are already wired.

"Thank you for asking permission to tell me about it."

"Guess I don't have to do that anymore."

"I don't know about that. I mean, I still have no idea what this is all about. What does the Navy want you for?"

"I was not really in Naval Intelligence. I mean, I was, but it was just a cover for covert SEAL operations. Short form, I got the Intel first hand, directly from the source, and then I would analyze it. Put the pieces together. With all the information in one hand you can see the big picture more easily. I'm not an expert, I'm not an analyst, but I know enough to do the job of going through a stack of information and getting the important part out of it. I have kind of an eye for that. I don't know, it's hard to explain. Anyway, I have all the information on an organization that is selling drugs, guns and all kinds of illegal material to anyone who is willing to pay the price. That organization is operating out of South America and they heavily support different terrorist organizations with the money they make. They have ties to different 'gangs' in the US and Europe. The most important one is the Dupree Cartel." Steve gets stopped by some heavy coughing, all that talking doesn't seem to agree with his lung capacity.

"You should take a break. You want me to call the nurse?" Danny gets worried when the coughing doesn't seem to stop.

"No… I'm okay… give me a minute." Steve is finally able to catch his breath. "Guess I shouldn't… talk that much."

"Yeah, I'd say. You okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Dupree lives in Manaus on the Amazonas. He has quite a villa with a view of the river from the master bedroom."

"How do you know that?"

Steve only looks at his friend, he can hardly tell him _what_ he did in that villa. "The view is pretty spectacular actually."

"So, your job is what? To go there?"

"No. They don't need me for that. There are enough active SEALs for jobs like that. No, they gathered new Intel and they want me to go through it. And with my knowledge of the information I gathered over the years, they think I can come up with the connections. It is hoped we find the information that will bring them down. Dupree took over after we took down half of their organization. Now he's getting greedy and wants more power over the US gangs. We could face some very ugly gang wars if he's not stopped. But to do that we need to put them out of business all at once. Or they will just relocate and all our work would be for nothing. NCIS is working the US side of this and we, well NIS, the foreign side."

"How is Catherine involved?"

"Cath is my communications officer, adviser and, well she kind of watches my six. She's my eyes and ears. I couldn't do it without her. She tracks me while I'm in and helps me find my way back out."

"So she's your back up?"

"More than that. I'm not alone in the field, I have a support group. But Cath has always been in my ear, guides me, and of course the rest of the group."

"You worked with her often?"

"Yes, many times. She's the best."

"Is she still doing that?"

"No. She's still in communications, but not like that. It takes time to form a team like we had. If I ever participate in a job like that again, she would be my guide. But she won't do it with another partner." The grin on Danny's face lets Steve realize what he just said. "Very funny, Danny. Listen, I have two more hours before the MRI, you mind if I take a nap?"

"No, of course not. Come on, I'll get you into bed."

"Careful, D. Don't spread any more rumors." Steve smiles at his friend, while Danny helps him over to the bed. Grateful to lie down for a while, he hopes the room will soon stop spinning.

"I think you're doing a good enough job for the both of us with that." Danny puts another pillow under the injured ankle and watches his friend drift off to sleep in seconds. Steve can use all the sleep he can get before the drama of these last days hopefully reach its final stage.

H50 – H50 – H50

* * *

><p><em><strong>I hope you liked it. Would love to hear from you.<strong>_


	17. Chapter 17 Leaving the hospital

**Chapter 17 – Leaving the hospital**

Steve McGarrett hates to lie still for his MRI. The contraption holding his head immobile is pressing on his forehead and aggravates his already throbbing headache. He is wearing some kind of headphones to dampen the noise but it's still really loud and it's driving him up the wall. If he could move, that is. Steve tries to close his eyes and just ride it out, but it's no use. The pain behind his forehead and temple makes his eyes water.

The slide he's lying on moves again and the motion takes his nausea to a totally new level. He can feel the bile rising and starts to swallow convulsively. "I'm gonna be sick, get me out of here."

"Commander, just five more minutes and we're done," he hears the voice of the technician over his headphones.

Steve knows that he won't even last _one_ more minute, much less five. They gave him a panic-button and that is exactly what he's using now. After five seconds of pressing the button, the machinery stops and the slide moves out of the scanner. Barely in time for Steve to get the holding mechanism off his head, turn on his side and get violently sick.

He registers that a nurse is talking to him and someone is holding him, to keep him from falling off the small slide. Steve can't seem to stop this bout of nausea and it takes a couple of minutes for his stomach to settle.

"Commander, I'm giving you something to make you feel better. Just try to relax," his doctor is talking to him, but Steve just doesn't care. The room is spinning and he's sure he will get sick again in the next minute. There is a constant flow of noise that he finds kind of comforting. He concentrates on that and doesn't even register that he's drifting off to sleep, aided by the anti-nausea medicine and light sedative.

"Okay, he's out, let's finish the MRI. Monitor him closely for any distress. I don't want a repeat of this." Dr. Heller looks at his colleague who he thinks didn't prepare the commander sufficiently for his stint in the MRI scanner. "Judy, please call me when Commander McGarrett is back in his room," he addresses his assistant.

"Yes, of course. Should I call Neuro when his scan is complete?"

"Yes. Who is on duty?" Dr. Heller wants to consult with a neurosurgeon before he will release the commander.

"I think Dr. Chaeng."

"That's good, please give him a call." Dr. Heller looks through the small window in the door and sees Detective Williams waiting for him. "Oh joy, Williams again." He sighs and makes his way out the room to update Commander McGarrett's partner.

"Dr. Heller, what happened? Why were you called? Is Steve okay?" Danny doesn't even give Dr. Heller time to greet him before he bombards the doctor with questions.

"Detective Williams, everything is fine. Commander McGarrett got sick while in the scanner. It's not easy for someone with a concussion to lie like that, with all the noise and motion. But he is fine. I gave him a light sedative and he's sleeping now, so we can finish the scan. He should be back in his room within the next half hour. Everything looks good so far. Don't worry, he's okay."

"Couldn't you have sedated him before you put him through this?" Danny knows how much it hurts Steve to puke, how his headache increases with the vomiting.

"We're not very keen on sedation for concussion victims. That is only the last resort. And he was feeling rather good when he went into the scanner. It can happen that people get sick during the scan, that's why they are given the panic button, which he used."

"Are you going to keep him in the hospital?"

"He is very adamant about getting released today. Although I would like to keep him for a few more days. He still needs the strong antibiotics, I'm not happy with him switching to pills yet. And I'm not comfortable releasing him with a severe concussion. Detective, I know he's capable of a lot of stuff and he is pretty tough. But I'm very worried about another head injury. He needs to be very careful not to hit his head again in the next couple of weeks until his current concussion is healed. That could have dire consequences."

"What consequences?"

"A concussion on top of a concussion is extremely dangerous. It can cause brain damage and even death. It doesn't appear that way, but Commander McGarrett is seriously injured. A severe concussion is no laughing matter. Please take good care of him. I take it you will stay with him?"

"Yes, I won't leave his side."

"Good, Detective. Make sure that he rests."

"I will."

Danny Williams watches Dr. Heller leave and turns back to the door behind which his friend is getting his final test. Danny thinks back to when they came down here not even an hour ago. Steve did seem fine then. He complained of only a light headache but after his almost two-hour nap, he was no longer nauseous or dizzy.

_**An hour ago in Steve's hospital room**_

"Danny, will you relax? Everything will be fine. Did you bring me some clothes?"

"Yeah, your usual stuff. Duffel's in the bathroom. But I brought sneakers, not boots. Besides you only need one actually. You can change after the MRI." Danny looks at his friend who's still dressed in sweats and a shirt. The bandages on his right leg are no longer as bulky as yesterday, so there is no need to cut off the pant-leg.

"Thanks Danny. Did Chin find any other connections to the shooting?" Steve asks Danny while he is gently massaging the taut muscles in his upper leg.

"Does your leg hurt?"

"Feels like my thigh is about a minute from cramping and lifting it feels like a knife gets rammed into my groin. Heller said I have some pulled muscles along my leg."

"Steve, maybe this is not such a good idea. Please reconsider leaving the hospital."

"Danny, we've been over this. Did Chin get any more information about the other murders?" Steve pushes himself a little higher up in bed to find a more comfortable position for his leg, but is not really successful with it.

"Not yet. CSU told us that the bullets match those in three other homicides we know of. Chin is expanding the search and has contacted Interpol. You know what I don't get, Steven?"

"No, what? Argh, fuck." Steve's gripping his thigh that's just seized up on him.

"Here, let me help you." Danny takes over to loosen the cramped muscles in his friend's leg. After a minute of kneading the seized muscles, the trembling stops and he can see Steve visibly relax.

"Thank you."

"Didn't they give you some muscle relaxant to prevent this?"

"Yeah, and it has helped so far. Guess I'm not used to just lying around like this. Thanks, I think it's okay now."

"You're welcome. Now, where was I? We found tons of Mick's fingerprints at Jinny's apartment and in the truck, but we still couldn't identify him. There were even prints on the shell casings we found. Who is this guy? And why are you so certain he will come after you and Cath?"

"There are no records of him in the system, Danny. But he is highly trained. Those shots that killed Dan and his social worker? Those were done by a pro. I'd say he is a fixer. An assassin. Probably a former mercenary from South Africa; now freelancing for the highest bidder. I've dealt with those people, Danny. They are dangerous and very good at their jobs. Get the job done and disappear. Until the next time. Danny, can you help me off the bed please?" Steve's scooting over to the edge of the bed to get up.

"Where'd you wanna go?"

"Bathroom."

"You sick?"

"No. I need to pee, if you must know."

"Oh." Danny hands him the crutches and watches him hobble over to the bathroom. "You seem pretty stable, you're not dizzy?"

"No, I feel fine."

"Right."

Steve only grins at his friend and disappears through the door.

Danny gets pulled out of his thoughts by a nurse entering the treatment room in front of him. A minute later she comes back, pushing a gurney with his sleeping friend on it. "Detective, do you mind giving me a hand getting your friend back to his room?"

"No, of course not," he grabs the nearest part of the gurney and they make their way to Steve's room. During the short trip he gets a good look at Steve, who looks exhausted but is seemingly deeply asleep. He doesn't even stir once during their short journey.

Two more nurses are already waiting for them and it only takes them a minute to settle him back in bed. Tracy reconnects him to his IV and puts the cannula for the oxygen back on. "Don't worry, it's just a precaution, his O² level is a little on the low side. Dr. Heller wants him on it for another couple of hours," she tells Danny before she leaves them alone again.

"Great. You know, I get a little miffed having to wait for you to wake up from one of your many naps. It's not really entertaining watching you sleep all the time." There is no ire behind Danny's words, and if anyone would see how gently he places another pillow under Steve's leg and tugs the blanket around his friend, they might even start to believe all those rumors.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Danny, we shouldn't let him do this," Chin Ho Kelly whispers to his friend.

"Oh, right. You want to be the one who tells SuperSEAL, that he shouldn't leave the hospital? Because frankly, I've run out of steam," Danny confesses equally quietly, so not to wake their leader.

Which is completely useless, since he has been awake for a while now. Listening to his two friends discussing how best to tell him to stay in the hospital. He finds it kind of amusing but also gets a little angry at them. He knows what he can do and survived without their 'concern' all his life up to now.

Their fussing can get a little annoying, even though he knows it is just out of caring for his well-being. But he has taken care of himself since he was barely sixteen, after his father sent him away and he had to practically fend for himself. A military academy is not exactly a cuddly institution. And later Annapolis wasn't either, not to mention SEAL training and later his commission. Sure, he was well taken care of, and the first priority was always his health. But that is to ensure the safety of his fellow team members and not because someone cared specifically for _him_. That is kind of a new concept.

He knows that Cath cares for him and always has. But he never had a team who was concerned for 'him', just for his sake. Not because they want to make sure he can complete a mission, but just because they like him. Love him even.

While he was listening to his friends talking, he assessed his condition again. To make sure that he indeed made the right decision to leave the hospital. His arm doesn't hurt at all anymore as long as he doesn't put too much weight on it. But he can use the crutches without a problem. Heavy lifting would still be a concern, although he's sure he can hold his gun just fine.

His leg is bothering him, but that is pain he can live with. If he put a boot on his foot, he's sure he would be able to walk without crutches. But since he doesn't have to, he's not going to do that. Using the crutches is just fine with him. His pulled muscles are a problem, especially the pulled groin muscles that are very painful and make every movement of his leg hurt. But that is also 'just' pain, something he can ignore for a while.

The only thing he can't ignore and that makes him momentarily rethink his decision, is his concussion. He can't ignore or stop the severe dizzy spells, or the nausea that periodically rolls over him in waves. The pain in his head he can push down for a while, but in the end it will win out. At the moment, his head is throbbing madly and he has a hard time concentrating.

If he didn't have a team behind him who he completely trusts to have his and Catherine's backs, he wouldn't leave the hospital. But he knows that, with their help, he'll be able to do this. He just needs to make them understand that.

Steve opened his eyes a minute ago and watched his friends, who are still arguing a few feet from his bed. He thinks about speaking up when Danny looks his way and sees him smiling at them.

"Hey, how long have you been awake?"

"A few minutes. Didn't want to interrupt your very entertaining conversation."

"Steve, it's not nice to eavesdrop," Chin shakes his head at him, smiling. "How do you feel?"

"Not too bad. My leg hurts and I'm a little dizzy again." Steve figured if he's honest with them, they might see that he's actually not so bad off.

"Listen, Steve," Chin moves next to his bed, "you know that we're just concerned about you and not doubting your abilities?"

Steve actually has to laugh at that. Is that what his friends think he is thinking? "I know Chin. It's okay, I know you're just worried. But you have to understand something, I have fended for myself my whole adult life. I know what I can or can't do. Give me some credit and don't question my every move. I'm getting a little tired of defending myself all the time. If I don't act according to what you think is normal behavior, I'm sorry, but that is just me. That's who I am." Steve has no idea where that suddenly came from. But felt the need to get them off his back. He is going to do this. Period. Besides HE is still the boss.

"Whoa there, Steven. Calm down." Danny steps up and tries to mend the fences. He has no idea what just happened but he doesn't want this to get out of control. Steve got very agitated during his little speech and Danny wonders how much of their conversation he heard and if they gave Steve any reason to be angry at them. "No one is trying to keep you from doing what you think is right. Okay? But I know that you're not feeling well and that you're worried about the possibility of Cath getting hurt if we don't catch that Mick character. But you have to understand that we're just as worried about you."

"I can't lose her, Danny." Steve is amazed at how well Danny knows him. How Danny figured out why he really wants to leave the hospital and catch that bastard before Cath can get hurt.

"You won't. I promise we will do everything we can to keep her safe. Besides I'm sure your lieutenant knows how to defend herself." Danny smiles at his partner.

"That she does. She has a mean right hook and knows other tricks to send a guy flat on his back." Steve remembers it like it was yesterday.

"I think that is a story I would really like to hear, Steve." Chin looks at his boss and tries to picture him getting knocked out by Lt. Rollins.

"It was a big misunderstanding and I was actually the victim, and not her intended target. Of course that didn't help me much. But that's how we met, she knocked me out cold."

"She knocked you out with one punch?" Danny is almost laughing at him.

"No. She kneed me first and then punched me, right on the temple. I was out like a light." Steve remembers waking up to some medics tending to him after he hit the deck pretty hard.

"He could have had me court-martialed, but instead he invited me to dinner." Cath is smiling, standing in the doorway, having heard the tail end of the story. She comes fully into the room, completely ignoring Danny and Chin and concentrates solely on Steve, whose face lights up like Christmas. "Hello, Commander," she bends over and softly kisses him.

"Hello, Lieutenant," Steve gently pulls her down for a hug. "I missed you," he whispers into her ear, not caring if his friends hear it or not.

"Missed you too," she smoothes his hair back and takes a good look at him. "I was worried about you. Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I feel fine."

"Good. I'm sorry, Danny, Chin. Good to see you." Catherine turns to the other two people in the room who are standing back, knowing smiles on their faces.

"Likewise. Catherine, how was your flight?" Danny shakes hands with her.

"Long. But uneventful. I was just briefed by Admiral Dickens. He gave me a file for Steve to review. If you're ready to leave?"

"Steve has to wait for Dr. Heller, he wanted to talk to him before we can leave." Danny tells Cath and as if on cue the doctor comes in, with Tracy in tow.

"Commander, good you're awake again. Could you all excuse us for a few minutes? I'd like to talk to Commander McGarrett in private." Dr. Heller's tone indicates that this is not a question.

"They can hear what you have to say," Steve looks at his doctor and winces when Tracy pulls the IV out.

"I'm sorry, but I would like to talk to you alone. Please, it will only take a few minutes."

His three friends look at Steve and reluctantly leave the room, curious why they can't stay.

"Dr. Heller, what is this about?" Steve sits up in bed after Tracy is done removing his IV and bandaging the small wound.

"Tracy, thank you." It's clear that she is also dismissed.

Steve gets a little worried and looks expectantly at his doctor.

"I'm sorry, if this seems a bit dramatic. I apologize for that. Commander, I have the test results from your MRI and consulted with one of our doctors from our Neuro-department."

"And?"

"Everything looks good. There is no bleeding or swelling that we can see."

"That's good, right?"

"Yes, that's very good. However, we are very concerned about your plans to leave the hospital. I must again urge you to reconsider that."

"Why? You just said the MRI was clear. So, I only have a concussion."

"Commander, I can't stress enough how serious this is. Dr. Chaeng, the neurosurgeon I consulted, and I reviewed your medical file. When you were five you had a traumatic brain injury and during your football career you suffered some concussions. We also learned from your medical file that you were shot in the head."

"That was just a graze."

"That might be so, but you have had more than enough head injuries. Serious and not so serious ones. This one _is_ serious, I want you to be aware of that. You have to keep away from any head trauma in the next few weeks. You have to be extra careful while you recover. Do you know what SIS is?"

"Yes, we learned about it in medical training. Second-impact syndrome is a condition in which the brain swells rapidly after a person suffers a second concussion before symptoms from an earlier one have subsided. That can happen days, or just minutes after the first concussion. It leads often to death and almost everyone who is not killed suffers severe disabilities."

"That is an almost textbook explanation."

"Our training officers were very serious about that, because most of the time if you suffered a concussion in the field, you couldn't just rest and wait. Most of the time you had to keep going. So they made sure we understood the severity of a head injury. Believe me, Dr. Heller, I know what I'm risking."

"Good. I will discharge you. But, I want to see you back here as soon as you finish your job. Commander, please take my words to heart. Don't come back here as a corpse."

Dr. Heller shakes hands with his patient and leaves him alone to contemplate what he's just told him.

Steve watches his doctor leave and for the first time has some doubts about his decision to put himself in harm's way.

H50 – H50 – H50


	18. Chapter 18 Getting home

_**Thank you for all the great reviews, it is so very much appreciated.**_

_**Thank you Cokie316 and Sherry57 – you make this fun!**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 18 – Getting home<strong>

"Danny, are you really going to make me say it? Okay, fine. I can't. I need to sit down. Now." Steve is glaring at his friend. He knows Danny is not doing this on purpose, that he's only looking out for him, and wants him to lie down in bed where he'd be more comfortable. But pushing him like this is not getting them anywhere. He will not make it upstairs, not now or in the next hour. If he doesn't sit down right now, Steve is sure he will pass out. His head is killing him and the trip from the hospital, sitting in the van, was not so great on his leg either.

"You said you'd be fine." Danny says while clearing the couch to sit on. "I told you this was a dumb idea."

"I am fine. I just won't make it up the stairs right now. I'm dizzy, okay? This is the longest I've been upright in a few days. Give me a break, Danny." Steve gets slightly annoyed with his friend, who has been hovering ever since they left the hospital. Hell, ever since he woke up the first time over a day ago. Chin, Kono and Cath had wisely shut up after Steve blew up at Danny the first time outside the hospital in the parking lot when Danny tried to help him into the van.

Steve knows that he is being irrational, but he has been on edge for a few hours now. He stopped taking the heavy painkillers this morning and the level of pain he's in has been rising ever since. But he can't risk being knocked out by the drugs. Tylenol will have to do for now.

"Fine, have it your way. Camp out on the couch for all I care." Danny looks down at his stubborn partner, who looks ready to pass out.

"What the hell is the matter with you, Danny?"

"Guys!" Chin has had enough now. "Will you cut it out? Steve, I know you're annoyed with us and the situation. I know how pissed off you are that you're not back on your feet yet. And Danny, you're annoyed at Steve because he's just, well, himself. Suck it up, both of you! It goes like this: Steve, you will let us worry about you and take care of you. And you, Danny, will accept that Steve is not some invalid who doesn't know what he's doing. And you can both stop grinning right now." Chin is shaking his head at his two friends and marches out of the living room.

"Sorry, Danny." Steve looks at his friend and sees that he has a matching grin on his face. It's rare that Chin speaks up like that.

"Yeah, I'm sorry too."

"Great, now that this is settled, can we start working on the plan?" Cath speaks up for the first time since they entered the house.

"Can I have some water, please? And there is a bottle of Tylenol in the bathroom cabinet." Steve leans his head back against the couch and hopes for the dizziness to pass before he pukes again. The trip from the hospital really messed him up. He just doesn't want to admit it.

"I'll get you some water and something to eat because you need to take your antibiotics. Danny, can you get the Tylenol?" Cath doesn't wait for Danny to agree but moves into the kitchen.

"Hey, Cath. Those two idiots calmed down yet?" Chin asks Cath as he finishes his phone call to Kono and Lori.

"Yeah. They are both so stubborn." Cath shakes her head, but smiles her thanks for Chin's intervention.

"How is Steve, really? You know him better than we all do. Is he up to this?"

"Chin, he went through war zones with injuries far worse than this. He'll get the job done, no matter what. It's hammered into him, he can't act any differently. I know his head hurts pretty badly and he gets dizzy spells, but when it counts he will be able to do this. He wouldn't have left the hospital if he weren't. He would never put his team in danger like that."

"Yeah, but this is not one of his 'normal' missions. This involves you. I'm worried that his judgment is a bit compromised by that."

Catherine actually has to laugh at that. "Chin, trust me, his feelings are not going to compromise his judgment. Never did, and I doubt it ever will be the case."

Chin looks at her, contemplating her words. She's probably right. Chin always wondered how Steve was able to not kill Victor Hesse, the killer of his father, when he had the chance. It would have been easy, but he arrested him instead. Chin is sure that Steve would have loved to put a bullet through Victor, and for good this time. "I'll take your word for it."

They take another minute for Cath to make a sandwich and to grab some bottled water. When they get back into the living room, they can't believe that Steve and Danny are arguing again.

"What do you mean you can't tell me?"

"Danny, exactly what I said. It's classified. I can't tell you." Steve calmly tells him, without even opening his eyes. He's still slouched down on the couch, leg propped up with pillows on the coffee table and head resting on the back of the couch.

"Admiral Dickens gave you permission to tell me."

"And he also told me to remember what not to tell. This is one of those things… not to tell. I'm sorry Danny. I can't tell you where I gathered my Intel… or when."

"Fine. Then tell us what you know about 'Mick'." Danny motions for Cath and Chin to take a seat.

"Steve, before you start you need to eat and take your antibiotics." Cath puts the sandwich in front of him and hands him his medication.

He takes the pills and swallows them with some water, along with two pain pills. But he completely ignores the sandwich. "I can't eat right now. Wouldn't keep it down. Maybe later."

"You shouldn't take the pills on an empty stomach. How about some fruit? You think you could eat an apple or banana?" Cath is not giving up that easily.

"No, I don't think so. I'll try to eat later, okay?"

"Steve, you will get sick if you take your pills without any food. At least try to eat _something._"

Just the thought of eating anything makes Steve even more nauseous than he already is. "I can't right now, I'm sorry."

"Cath, maybe we can call the hospital and ask about his anti-nausea meds? He might be able to eat after he takes them." Danny can see that Steve is at the end of his patience with Catherine and decides to change the subject. "Steve, tell us about Mick."

Steve doesn't want to think about eating or his sensitive stomach anymore, so he's not telling that there should be some medication in his bag. He's just glad Danny managed to get Cath off his back. "I don't know anything about 'Mick'. Not about him personally, but I've come across his type a few times. That's why I think he's from South Africa. A lot of ex-soldiers became mercenaries. There were and still are a lot of armed conflicts in Africa and many soldiers work for the highest paying faction. If diamonds are involved, the funding is almost endless and the training they received is excellent." Steve looks at Catherine who still doesn't know about Jinny. "Cath, have you heard from Jinny lately?"

"I talked to her before she went to see her Dad on the mainland. Why do you ask about Jinny?"

"Mick is Jinny's boyfriend. And she is missing" Steve tells her.

"What? She didn't say anything about a new boyfriend. What do you mean missing?"

Danny speaks up and tells her about their investigation into first, Steve's disappearance and later of Dan's murder. "We have a witness that saw Mick and Jinny leave together in Mick's truck. The witness said they were acting completely normally. Nothing was amiss. We found fingerprints on the shell casings at the murder scene; they match the prints in Jinny's apartment. 'Mick', or whatever his real name is, killed those people."

"I don't understand, Danny. Are you telling me that Jinny and Mick kidnapped Steve and killed those men?"

"No. As far as we know George kidnapped Steve." Danny looks at his friend, who is still not over the fact that he got snatched by a total amateur. That George got the drop on him. A fact that makes Steve more human, at least in Danny's eyes. Steve, on the other hand, finds it rather embarrassing. "We don't know what Mick's involvement is, but Steve received a drug that counteracted the effects of an overdose of the tranquilizer. The timeframe wouldn't allow for George to be the one who administered that shot. We think it was Mick. Although we have no idea why."

Steve is listening closely to Danny's explanation. A lot of it is news to him as well. He hasn't really been debriefed yet by his team since he has been out of it up until now.

"I think 'Mick' was hired by Dupree to get information from Cath and me. George's involvement was a fluke and a danger to the real mission, so he and his associates had to be neutralized." Steve is telling it without any emotion, which gets to Danny.

"He was not 'neutralized', he was killed."

"Yes, Danny, he was. I'm just trying to make it clear what kind of person Mick is. His goal is to accomplish the mission. No matter what the cost, he will stop at nothing until his job is done. You need to be aware that we're not talking about some thug who is good with a rifle. This is a trained killer. Who has only one objective: get the mission done. He will not abort his mission because there might be collateral damage. Nothing but fulfilling his order is important."

"His order?"

"Yes, Danny. He is getting paid by someone. That's the one who is giving the orders, and Mick will follow through."

"You talk like you know him." Danny says and looks at his friend, trying to figure out what he's really saying.

"I do know him, Danny. I was trained the same way. My objective has always been the same."

"You're not a mercenary, Steven."

"Semantics, Danny. I'm not questioning my choices, or what I have done. But I have no illusions either. You have no idea 'what' I have done. At the end of the day, it's not much of a difference for the collateral damage, by whom they were killed. I'm just saying that I know exactly to what length he will go to to get to Cath and me. And I want you to be clear about who you will face. Don't underestimate him."

"We won't Steve," Chin is speaking up. "And for the record, you are nothing like him."

"I just wanted to make a point. I didn't say I was like him, just that the importance of the outcome of a mission was the same."

"Okay. I think we all agree, that we need to be on our toes to capture Mick. Before he gets to Steve or Cath" Danny looks at his partner, making sure that Steve knows that he will do anything in his power to keep Cath safe. "So, now what? We just wait?"

"No, Cath and I need to review the file she got from Admiral Dickens. But I can't do that right now, because I don't feel so good. Chin, can you check with Kono and Lori, to see if they're ready and set? Cath, where did you put the bag with the meds? There should be some anti-nausea stuff in it."

"No, there wasn't. There were only two bottles with your antibiotics and the pain killers in it. You feel sick?" Cath touches Steve's forehead, feeling that he's too warm. "Why don't you lie down for a bit and try to sleep a little?"

"Okay," Steve moves a little sideways and uses both arms to move his leg onto the couch. But he can't suppress the groan the movement causes. The pain of the pulled muscles and bruised hip has intensified in the last few hours, it hurts even worse than his head. The headache is down to a dull throbbing thanks to the Tylenol, but it doesn't seem to help his leg at all. He can't help but groan again when Cath pushes a pillow under his knee to elevate the leg.

"We should get some ice on the injured muscles and your hip. It will help with the pain and the swelling."

"Cath, you stay with him, I'll get the ice." Danny's on his way to make some ice packs.

"Your leg hurts really badly, doesn't it?" Cath leans down and smooths his hair back. It's gotten a bit longer than usual.

"Yeah, it feels like it is getting worse instead of better. Although my ankle doesn't hurt as much anymore. The groin muscle is the worst; I can't move my leg sideways at all. Dr. Heller said it's not just pulled but there are some tears in the muscles. You can even feel the hole in the muscle. It really hurts." Steve was always open with Catherine and sees no reason to change that now.

"Just try to sleep some. The ice will help too." She gently places the first bag Danny just came back with, high up on his right thigh, making sure not to freeze off other vital parts of his anatomy. She places the second bag on his hip and secures it by putting a towel over it and tucking one end under his butt and the other into his waistband. "That should do it. Now lie still and try to sleep. We will take the ice off every few minutes."

"Hmm."

Cath smiles down at her already half sleeping friend. She motions for Danny to stay. "Would you like some coffee, Danny?"

"Coffee would be great. Thank you."

"Be right back." One final look at the now sleeping Steve and she is off to make some coffee, and hopefully to find some of Steve's great oatmeal cookies. She knows that he always has a stash hidden somewhere and wonders if Danny knows that Steve bakes his own cookies. Chuckling at the thought of the baking SEAL she sets the coffee maker and goes in search of the secret stash.

H50 – H50 – H50

Mick Douglas always thought the best place to hide was in plain sight. For half a day now he's been under the noses of the two cops in front of McGarrett's house. His moving van is standing right across the street and he's been carrying in boxes for an hour now.

Setting up surveillance of the house in plain view of the police. Sometimes it is just too simple. Mick grins and takes another box into the house. He needs to check on Jinny, see if she's still sedated. He can't have her waking up at an inconvenient time. She is already in the back of the van he will use to transport Rollins and McGarrett.

Before he can go check on Jinny his phone rings with the call he anticipated for a while now.

"Yes, Sir?"

"_Are you ready to make your move?"_

"Yes, Sir. Everything is going according to plan. McGarrett and Rollins are in the house. Protective detail is pulled off. Only two men in the house, two women down the street in a van, two officers in a cruiser in front of the house."

"_Six people? You sure you can handle that alone?"_

"Yes, Sir. The van and the cruiser are already prepared. The officers will be out before they can say a peep. The two Five-0 in the house will be called down to the beach by the tripped alarm. I only have to deal with McGarrett, who is seriously handicapped by his injuries. I watched him arrive two hours ago. And Rollins will be no problem."

"_How will you get McGarrett out of the house if he's seriously injured?"_

"That won't be a problem, Sir. I'll meet you at 0300 h at the airport." Mick doesn't like this change of plan one bit. Every single step of his operation has been planned in detail for weeks. But now his client wants to do the interrogation himself and will take McGarrett and Rollins out of the country. Mick didn't have time to prepare for that. It's a risk, but he has no choice but to follow the instructions.

"_Carter, …"_

"No names, Sir."

"_This is a secure line, Carter. Remember, we need him to make Rollins talk. He will be useless if he's dead."_

"Yes, Sir." Mick is still pissed that his client knows and uses his real name. He still has no idea how Dupree even got that information, but he knows way too much about Carter Lines.

"_And get rid of your girlfriend before you meet with us. We don't need her."_

"Yes, Sir." It seems that Jinny's fate has just been decided.

"_Don't be late, Carter."_ An audible click marks the end of the conversation.

"I'm never late," Mick mumbles, knowing that his client can't hear him anymore.

He puts the phone back into his pocket and goes to the garage to finally check on Jinny. He sedated her almost an hour ago and it should wear off soon.

Mick opens the van and looks at the still sleeping Jinny. He had a good time with her, it was the first time that he had felt something akin to love for one of his players. Well, love might be too strong a word, but he was fond of her. He gently picks her up and carries her upstairs to the master bedroom. Laying her onto the bed, he sits down next to her and caresses her face.

After a minute he gets up, pulls his gun out and screws the silencer onto it.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," he whispers as he pulls the trigger.

H50 – H50 – H50

The first sensation Steve becomes aware of is being cold. Oddly enough only the right side of his body feels frozen. After he thinks about it a moment longer and becomes more awake he can actually pinpoint the cold to his upper leg and groin area. He might be cold enough to shiver, but at least his leg doesn't hurt much right now.

Except for the cold he feels pretty good. His head almost doesn't hurt and the room's not spinning at the moment. And, in his eyes, that was a huge improvement. All day he'd been fighting with severe dizziness. That's why he hadn't wanted to move upstairs to the bedroom; he would never have made it.

He listens carefully for any signs of his friends, but the house seems very quiet. Steve carefully opens his eyes and is pleasantly surprised that the room is bathed in soft light from the kitchen but no light is turned on in the living room. Earlier, his headache had increased tenfold on the way from the hospital because of the bright Hawaiian sun. The light has been burning right into his brain and he's sure he lost a few brain cells in the wildfire.

Steve carefully sits up a little more and looks down at the ice-packs on his leg and hip and wonders whose handiwork that was. He removes the half melted ice-packs and tosses them on the coffee table.

It's dark outside which means he must have been asleep for a few hours.

"Did you have a nice nap?" Danny's voice can be heard from the arm chair that's located out of Steve's sight.

"God, Danny. You almost gave me a heart attack." Steve tries to get his racing pulse under control. He'd almost fallen off the couch when Danny startled him.

"Sorry, didn't mean to." Danny comes over and sits down on the low table in front of the couch. "How do you feel?"

"Good. Frozen, but good. Where is everybody?" Steve struggles to sit up and grimaces when he moves his leg off the couch.

"Chin is checking out back, and Cath is getting the bed ready. We should get you upstairs into bed. You think you can make it up the stairs now?"

"Yeah, but I should review the file from Admiral Dickens."

"You can do that upstairs. You don't have to go to sleep, but you should lie down. Dr. Heller called and asked if the trip here was okay. He seemed very concerned. Is there something you haven't told us, Steven?"

"No. I think he is totally overreacting." Steve looks around while moving to the edge of the couch. "Where are my crutches?"

"Coming right up," Danny produces them from their spot on the floor next to the armchair he has occupied the last two hours while Steve has been asleep. "You need a hand?" Without waiting for a reply, he helps Steve off the couch.

"Thanks." Steve hobbles over to the stairs but makes no move to go up. "Danny, can you lend me your shoulder?"

"Sure. You want to use one crutch or the handrail?"

"Ehm, maybe one crutch?"

"Guys, you need another hand?" Chin came into the living room, and seeing what his two friends are up to, offers his help.

With both his arms around Danny and Chin's shoulders it doesn't even take a minute to reach the upper level of the house. But it leaves Steve panting and dizzy.

"Whoa, big guy, no passing out on the stairs," Danny grabs Steve's arm a little tighter when his friend sags a little as they reach the top of the stairs.

"Dizzy, give me a minute." Steve hangs his head and tries to control his breathing. Who would have thought that climbing those few steps would be such a monumental effort.

"Okay, come on, I think it's time for you to lie down again." Danny nudges his friend forward. Steve doesn't even have a choice in the matter, depending on Chin and Danny to even stay upright.

Steve has his eyes tightly closed and just tries to follow Danny's instructions, but it's not easy. Arriving at the top of the stairs he was overwhelmed by dizziness and nausea. He has had concussions before, but never this kind of problem. _Maybe it's because of the drugs, but they are supposed to be out of his system by now._ He knows he won't make it to his bed. "Gonna be sick." It's the only warning his friends get before it's already too late.

"Ah, shit." Danny and Chin are only able to watch helplessly and keep Steve upright while their friend loses what little he had in his stomach. At least he manages not to get anything onto himself or his two helpers. "Okay, now? You're done?"

Some coughing and a weak 'yeah' is the only answer.

"We'll clean that up in a minute, come on, let's get you into bed. You need to go to the bathroom first, clean up a little?"

"Yeah. Sorry about that." Steve is mortified to have barfed in front of his friends. Again.

"It's okay, brah, don't worry about it." Chin assured him. They reach the bathroom under the worried glances of Catherine. Takes them a few moments to clean up since Steve is still swaying dangerously. Chin is holding on to him, while Danny helps him freshen up.

"Okay, now off to bed with you."

"Ah, guys, I need to…"

"Couldn't you have said so before we cleaned you all up? You need help?" Danny looks at his friend, who is by now a nice shade of red. He just then realizes how humiliating Steve thinks this all is. "Hey, it's okay. We all need help sometimes. Nothing to it."

Another minute and they finally leave the bathroom. After using the facilities, Steve didn't say another word, didn't even look at Danny or Chin. He allows himself to be helped out of the adjoining bathroom and to the bed. He doesn't say anything while they elevate his leg or prop the pillows behind him.

"You comfortable like that?" Cath looks down at Steve. A slight nod is the only answer she gets. "Okay, we'll give you a few minutes. I'll make you something to eat. You think you can eat something?"

This time he just shook his head slightly.

"I'll get you some juice then. You don't have to try eating if you think you can't. Try to rest a little, we'll be right back."

Steve watches his friends leave. He can't explain what just happened, why he's such an ass all of a sudden. _He just wants to be alone. They are all in danger because of him. It's always because of him. They all die because of him, or his job, or what he has done. He wished they would all just leave._ Steve is aware that the drug is still messing with him, even though he believes some of his thoughts are not that far off.

Because of being associated with him, many people were in danger. Some of them died and he will be damned if any of his friends will die because of him. He plans to apologize as soon as they are back.

He settles back and listens to the waves outside; he always loved the sound of the ocean. His plans for apologizing are lost, because unfortunately the sound also lulls him to sleep rather quickly. When Cath and Danny come back he is already deeply asleep and they simply don't have the heart to wake him.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve tips his ear-com piece but doesn't receive an answer, "Danny, Chin, can you hear me? Danny, answer me." There is only silence. The only sound he can hear is Cath in the bathroom. Steve woke up a minute ago and found himself alone in bed. But the light under the door showed him where his girlfriend was.

Surprised not to see Danny in the bedroom, he tried to reach him on the com. Steve grabs his gun from the nightstand and carefully sits up. Slowly, so as not to get dizzy again. He swings his legs over the edge and silently groans because of the pain that action causes in his upper leg. The ice packs earlier in the evening helped a little but now the pain is back in full force. He tries to push it down and bends to grab his boots. It only takes a moment to get the left one on, but the right one is a different matter. He needs to widen the lacing to even get his foot into it. When he pushes his foot down, he almost cries out in pain. But his foot is snugly sitting in the boot. He ties the laces and can't keep the groan in when that puts a lot of pressure on the healing wounds.

Steve uses the edge of the nightstand to get off the bed and slowly puts weight on his right leg. The world tilts slightly due to the sudden dizziness the pain causes, but he manages to stand completely upright. Pushing down the pain, he takes his first step towards the bathroom. Only five steps and there's already a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead. His whole right leg is on fire and he's not sure if his ankle or his groin-muscles will win the contest for the most painful injury.

Before he can reach the bathroom door, the light is turned off and the door opens. "Steve, what are you doing?"

"Shhhh, Danny and Chin are not answering. We need to check on them."

"Okay, I'll check on them, you stay here."

"No. Take your gun and go back into the bathroom…"

"Yeah, right. In your dreams." Cath grabs her gun, checks the clip and is back at his side in a moment. "Let's go." She drapes his left arm over her shoulder and dares him to argue.

They make their way out of the bedroom and listen for any sounds coming from the floor below.

"The back door is open," Steve whispers.

"How do you know?" Cath retorts equally low.

"The waves are too loud." Steve separates from Cath and moves towards the stairs. His SEAL training took over and he moves down the stairs ignoring the searing pain in his leg. As long as his head doesn't decide to give out on him again with some severe dizziness, he will be fine. There is still no sound coming from any room. "Kono, Lori, can you hear me?"

Again, nothing but silence. "Cath, call for back-up," he motions to the phone on the table.

"No service." Cath holds up the useless device for him to see.

Steve frowns and suggests trying the land line, but it's also dead. Now it's clear, Mick is making his move. "Cath, you need to get to a phone and call for back-up. Go next door and stay there."

"No, I'm not leaving."

"We have no time for this, Lieutenant. Go next door… call for back-up… move." Steve has never used his rank on her, but he needs her out of the house and they certainly need help.

"Yes, _Sir_." It's more than obvious that Cath is furious, but she's also an officer and knows when to do as she's told.

"Cath?" Steve grabs her arm before she completely turns to leave, "Be careful."

She looks at him, steps closer and steals a quick kiss, "You too."

Steve watches her slip out the front door. He moves carefully and silently towards the open back door, and even though he's limping heavily, he doesn't make any noise. Steve looks out over the lawn down to the beach and is sure he can make out two figures lying in the sand. This was not supposed to happen; his friends were not supposed to get hurt, or worse. He doesn't allow himself to think the worst.

McGarrett stays in the shadows as he makes his way down to his stretch of beach, seeing now that Danny and Chin are lying down by the waterline. He is close enough to see that they both have tranquilizer darts in their necks. For a second he wonders why Mick didn't simply kill them. There is no sign or sound of Mick, so he makes his way over to his downed friends. He checks for a pulse and is more than happy to find a strong beat on both of them.

Danny is already stirring a little when Steve pulls the dart out. Glassy eyes are looking up at him. It will take a few more minutes before Danny will be any kind of coherent again.

"Drop your weapon and slowly turn around." Mick just emerged from the water.

Shit, Steve silently curses. He had watched the lawn and the bushes left and right, but he didn't check the water. A mistake he now has to pay for. He does as he's told and drops his gun, right next to Danny's hand, noticing that Danny's eyes are closed again.

Steve slowly and painfully gets back onto his feet. His leg is screaming its displeasure very loudly about kneeling and putting weight on it. It's trembling and Steve's not sure how much longer he will be able to stay on it.

"Where is Jinny?"

"Let's say she outlived her purpose. Now move, we don't have all day." Mick's plan got slightly screwed when Rollins left the house. His clients won't be happy with just McGarrett, but for now he is all they are going to get. He steps closer and gives Steve a little push with his gun.

That is just what the SEAL has been waiting for. As soon as Mick comes into range, Steve practically explodes into action.

In a fluid motion, he turns and rams his fist into Mick, right under the rib cage. Mick gasps in pain and surprise. Steve grabs for the gun but is only able to knock it out of Mick's hand. Mick comes to his senses after the shock of being attacked by who he thought was an incapacitated injured man wears off. He kicks out and makes contact with Steve's lower leg. He aims again and gets in a kick directly onto the injured ankle. Steve screams but does not go down. Instead, he retaliates with another blow to Mick's already cracked rib. The sound of the breaking rib is very satisfying.

Mick lets out an almost primal roar and is all over Steve in a second, ramming his knee into the abused muscles of his thigh. That is enough for the leg to give way and Steve falls down to his knees, no longer able to stand on his injured leg. Mick hammers blow after blow at Steve who is able to block most of them until Mick uses his knee again and smashes it against Steve's head.

Pain explodes in his temple and he goes down, hitting the sand hard. He hears Mick screaming something at him and when another kick hits his abdomen all the air gets pressed out of his lungs. His vision is graying and his limbs feel like they are filled with lead. He can barely get his arms up to protect his head from more hits, but that action leaves his body unprotected. Mick manages to get another good kick in, but this time Steve is able to grab the leg and twist it. Mick goes down with a scream. Steve knows that he just popped Mick's knee; the sound is unmistakable. Unable to get back onto his feet Steve crawls over to Danny to reach his gun, but barely makes it a few inches before a weight lands on his back and he crashes into the sand. Again all the air leaves his lungs.

Steve tries to turn, but his head his lifted by his hair and smashed into the sand. Thankfully they are on softer ground, but the impact is still hard enough for him to see stars. He must have blacked out for a few seconds, because the next thing he knows he is being dragged over the sand down to the water.

Panic rises in him because it's clear to him that Mick is going to try to drown him. He struggles against his attacker but before he can do much he feels himself getting wet. They've reached the water.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny is screaming, but no one hears him. His screams are just in his head. He can't move, his arms and legs just won't obey. He can breathe and see, but his damn limbs won't do a thing. He can only helplessly watch as his friend gets beaten to a pulp. He is amazed for a moment how well Steve is holding his own until he gets a knee to the head. From there he doesn't have a chance. He's going down hard.

Danny can feel the gun right next to his hand; his fingertips are touching the butt of it. But he can't grab it. For a second he thinks how stupid they have been, falling into a trap like this. All day, Steve had been telling them how dangerous and ruthless this Mick will be. And they did listen and believed him. But it still feels like they failed their friend and didn't heed his words.

How was it possible for him to be so stupid to go down to the beach after Chin called the all clear? He should have stayed in the house, but it seemed to be a false alarm. Of course that was only until Chin fell to the ground. Next thing he knows, Steve is kneeling next to him, talking to him. But he was not able to move or say a single word.

He watches in horror as Steve is dragged to the water. He can see that he's weakly struggling, but it's clear that Steve will lose. And if Danny can't move in the next minute, he will lose his best friend.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve feels the water closing over him. He holds his breath and tries to get out of Mick's grip. He pushes with his leg to get into deeper water so he will be able to roll. They move only a few inches and Steve is still under water while Mick is pressing him down with his whole body. He needs to breathe, his lungs are already screaming in pain. Steve makes more effort and kicks out and luckily hits Mick's knee. Mick's grip on him loosens and, for a second, Steve is able to get his head out of the water. Enough time to take a short breath. But again he gets dunked under and his head is pressed into the stony ground.

Steve knows this will end in his death if he isn't able to get rid of Mick in the next few seconds. He struggles with all he's got left and finally makes some progress. They slide further down into the ocean which gives Steve the opportunity to move. He rolls his assailant around and for the first time he's on top. His head is out of the water again and he gulps in a huge amount of air right before he's pulled under again.

Their struggle took them further out and they are now in waist deep water, both struggling to get a footing and standing up. Mick is a little faster on his feet and lands two hits on Steve before he can bring his arms up.

Steve's movements are very uncoordinated, his vision is almost nonexistent and he knows that he won't last much longer. He puts all his remaining energy into the next punch and actually hits his target, but it's not enough to knock Mick out. Mick staggers back as Steve falls face first into the water. Completely and utterly spent. He feels himself get pushed down and thinks he hears a loud noise, but is not sure. Noises under water can be very deceiving. He feels himself drifting and knows that he needs to rise back to the surface but he simply lacks the energy to do it.

He breathes the last of the air out he had held until now. Steve closes his eyes against the burning salt water and he can't prevent it any longer, he breathes in. Water rushes into him; some he swallows, some he breathes in. It's the dying breath he takes. After that, there is no pain, no fear, not even panic. People who drown do so quietly, it's a very silent death. It's nothing like the trashing people watch on TV. Real drowning is very seldom dramatic to watch.

Steve's last dying thought is about what an ass he was after his friends helped him to his bedroom. _I'm sorry_.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><strong>Please don't hate me now. :-)<br>**


	19. Chapter 19 Waiting

_**Thank you for the overwhelming response to the last chapter. :-)**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 19 - Waiting<strong>

Finally, Danny is able to move. He has been watching with growing horror while his friend was engaged in a deadly fight. Just as Steve punches Mick one final time and falls forward into the sea, Danny is able to grab the gun. Mick manages to push Steve under before Danny can fire his shot. Danny watches as Mick looks down in astonishment after the bullet from Danny's gun hits him square in the chest. He slowly sinks into the water while Danny struggles up from the ground and, on shaky legs, wades into the water.

"Steve!" He can't see his friend; he was hoping that he would come back up, but no sign of him.

Danny moves as fast as he can to the point where he thinks he went under. "Steve!" Of course there is no answer. Danny dives down in the five feet deep water, but he can't see anything. The saltwater is burning in his eyes and the darkness prevents any visibility. He is blindly swimming around when his hands touch something. Something solid. A body. _Please let it be Steve_. Danny pulls the body to the surface and is overjoyed that it is indeed his friend. His completely unresponsive friend. His drowned friend. _Oh God._

He drags Steve to the shore as quickly as he can, with Chin meeting him halfway. Together they haul Steve out of the water and onto the beach. It only takes a moment to start CPR. Danny is doing the compressions while Chin is breathing for their leader. It seems to take forever until they finally hear sirens. For a moment he wonders where the women of the team are and why Catherine is not here, but he is too busy keeping his partner alive to think too long about it.

"Detective, please, you can stop now. We'll take over." Danny hasn't even noticed that the EMS has finally arrived.

He and Chin step back and watch the EMTs doing their job. They cut off the shirt and put the paddles on Steve's chest. When the energy surges through him, there is only a small jerk, barely noticeable. "I've got a pulse… intubate him… he's not breathing."

While one of them is inserting the tube to deliver the air directly into his lungs, the other inserts an IV and motions for Danny to hold the saline bag. Tom, the EMT with the IV injects something into the port. Next he checks Steve's pupils and puts a Neck brace onto him. "His BP is low… slow reaction… not breathing… we need to get him to the ER… ASAP… let's roll."

With the help of Chin and Danny, they have him on the gurney in no time. Two more officers offer their help to carry the gurney over the lawn to the waiting ambulance.

"Danny, you go with Steve. I'll stay and coordinate with HPD."

"Chin! Let me know about Kono and Lori. And find Catherine." Danny looks at Chin and hopes that their friends are alright. "And get checked out by the medics."

"Detective! We have to go! Get on the bus or stay here." One of the EMTs is calling to him urgently.

"Danny, go." Chin practically pushes him into the ambulance with their boss, who is still being bagged by Jerry. Great, Tom and Jerry to the rescue. Danny would have laughed at that thought but one look at his still unresponsive friend causes him to lose every last ounce of humor he had in him.

Danny is barely in the ambulance when the doors are closed and they start their journey to the hospital. Danny is well aware that the two EMT's are working hard to keep Steve stable. They are pumping him full of different drugs to stabilize his BP and to get a normal heart rhythm. The beeping of the heart monitor is too fast as far as Danny can tell, but at least there is a heartbeat. He was so damn scared when he couldn't find one back on the beach.

The sound of the monitor gets faster and faster, and Danny looks anxiously at the medic who is pushing another drug into the IV port.

"He's crashing… get the paddles… charge two hundred… clear."

Danny watches in horror as the paddles are put on Steve's chest and the electricity again surges through him. But the incredibly fast rhythm doesn't change, it's almost like a long wailing sound.

"Charge again… three hundred… clear."

Again the charge travels through Steve's body in the hope of establishing a normal rhythm, but again no change.

"Again… come on man…" Tom is placing the paddles and presses the button for the third charge.

Danny is holding his breath and praying that this time will be the one. The one that brings his friend back to life.

The frantic beating suddenly stops and the slow rhythm that takes its place is music to his ears.

"Down to 80 BPM… BP is up a little… keep bagging him… Commander, come on, don't give up on us… pupils reacting slowly but equally… he's stable for now…" Tom smiles at Danny and calls the hospital to report the condition of their patient.

Danny scoots closer to Steve and grabs his slack hand. "Steve, come on, you have to fight this. Don't you dare die on us. You're a SEAL, you can't drown. That is just ridiculous. What will your fellows SEALs think? They will kick you out for pulling this crap." Danny looks down at the hand he is holding and swears that he felt Steve squeeze it. "I've got you Steve. You're going to be okay." Danny lays his hand on Steve's forehead in the hope that he will know that he's not alone.

"He feels really warm." Danny looks at Jerry, who is still pressing air into Steve's lungs with the bag attached to the tube leading down Steve's throat.

"Yes, he is running a fever of 103. It's a normal reaction of his body to make up for lost body heat and his ankle might be infected." Jerry motions for Danny to look down at Tom, who is removing Steve's boots.

"He will be pissed about the ruined boots." Danny tells Tom.

"The boot protected his foot somewhat, but this is a mess." He takes the wet and soiled bandages off the ankle and what Danny sees underneath is not a pretty sight. The ankle is red and swollen, stitches are ripped out. The ankle looks really bad. "No wonder his temperature is so high, this is badly infected. Why the heck did they take him off the IV-antibiotics?" Tom mumbles to no one in particular while he wraps the ankle loosely with gauze.

After he's finished, Tom checks for other injuries , starting with Steve's legs and working his way upward. Danny can hear him curse when he reaches Steve's right hand. "This looks broken." He takes a closer look at Steve's pinky finger that is at an unnatural angle. "I don't want to touch that without an x-ray first. But I'd say it's broken for sure. Susan, ETA?" He's calling to their driver.

"Two minutes."

"Good. Detective, are you alright?" Tom looks at Danny, who has gone very quiet.

"I'm fine, just a little dizzy. I was drugged. But I feel okay."

"You need to get checked out." Tom is making a move to check Danny, but is stopped by him.

"No, you just take care of Steve. I'm fine. I'll get checked out in the ER."

"Okay." Tom is again concentrating on Steve who is holding his own at the moment, but hasn't started breathing yet.

A moment later the bus comes to a stop and the doors are opened. A group of ER personnel is already waiting for them. Danny gets out of the ambulance right after Steve, but gets separated from him when Steve is whisked away into one of the trauma rooms. Danny can only watch the closed door and all of a sudden, feels a little lost.

The enormity of the situation just catches up with him. He remembers the words Dr. Heller told him about a hit to the head so shortly after a concussion. Danny can't get the image out of his head, of his friend lying on the beach. Not breathing with not even a pulse.

"Detective?" A nurse approaches him, having seen him standing there in the middle of the ER. Dripping wet and seemingly miles away. "Come with me, Detective Williams. We get you some dry clothes and check you over."

"How do you know who I am?" Danny follows her reluctantly.

"I remember you from last year. You brought Commander McGarrett in with a broken arm." They have reached one of the trauma rooms, but one with less equipment than the one Steve disappeared into. A case of wet-clothes-removal doesn't need that much high tech equipment. "I'll scrounge up some scrubs for you. You can strip behind the curtain. Get rid of everything that's wet." Nurse Betty smiles at him. She always has to laugh when people keep their soaking wet underwear on and think they can get away with it.

Danny grumbles something not very nice, but gets out of his wet clothes. It feels like he is caked in half the sand from the beach. There is sand in places where is doesn't belong at all. He just gets his last sock off when Betty comes back.

"Detective, here are some towels and something to wear. It should fit you pretty well. Sorry, no shoes though. Can you put yours back on?" Betty stretches her hand with the towels and then with the clothes behind the curtain.

"Thank you. Yeah, my shoes are fine."

"You can put your clothes in one of the bags. A doctor will come see you in a few minutes. Don't go anywhere."

Danny gets dressed and steps out from behind the curtain to be greeted by a young doctor.

"Hello Detective Williams, I'm Dr. Loop. The EMT said you were drugged and a little 'out' of it?"

"I feel fine."

"That may be so, but let me just check you over real quick and draw some blood. Just to be on the safe side." Dr. 'Loopy' as Danny instantly named him, motions for Danny to sit on the exam bed.

"Fine, but make it quick. I need to be with my partner."

"Commander McGarrett has been taken upstairs for an MRI; it will be a while before he's back."

"You heard anything about his condition?"

"No, Detective, sorry. I only saw them taking him upstairs. I'm sure his doctor will inform you as soon as there is any news. Now, let's have a look at you."

Ten minutes later Danny steps out of the exam room, just in time to see Chin coming in next to a gurney with an unconscious Kono on it. Behind them on another gurney is Lori, also not conscious, followed by two officers, both knocked out.

"Chin! Are they alright? And where is Catherine?" Danny hurries over to them.

"They are fine. They were knocked out by some gas. We found the containers and the EMTs say they will be alright. Catherine will be here any minute, she is unharmed." Chin watches his cousin being pushed into one of the trauma rooms.

"Well, you're only half wet. Come on, Lieutenant, I'll find you some scrubs. Dr. Loop is already waiting for you." Nurse Betty, who saw him come in, motions for him to follow her.

Chin looks after her, but makes no move to follow.

"You better go, before she comes after you, Chin." Danny gives him a little push.

"How is Steve?" Chin asked while moving towards Nurse Betty.

"I don't know yet."

"Okay, I'll be right back." Chin is practically dragged into the exam room by Betty.

"Danny! Danny, where is Steve? Is he alright?" Catherine enters the ER, looking around for her friend.

"Cath, are you okay? Where have you been?"

"I'm fine. Sergeant Major Biggs wouldn't let me leave until the 'all clear' was given."

"Who?"

"Steve's neighbor. He's a retired sergeant major. Danny, where is Steve?"

"He is getting an MRI. Catherine, he… he was in cardiac arrest. For over five minutes. I…"

"Oh my god. Is he going to be okay?"

"I don't know. We can only wait. Are you okay?" Danny steps closer and they hug without words. Giving each other strength to wait for word on their friend. "What the…?"

The double doors of the ER are pushed open again with another gurney. Another soaked and bloody person is pushed into the trauma room that Steve occupied until a few minutes ago. Danny can't really believe his eyes. "Duke, he's alive?"

"Barely. We fished him out of the drink and were very surprised to find a pulse. How is Steve?"

"We don't know yet. Duke, I want a man on 'Douglas' at all times."

"Danny, he is not going anywhere. If he even survives."

"I'm not taking any chances. Please organize a detail on him."

"Okay, I will." Sgt. Duke Lukela assures Danny.

Nurse Betty comes back from her run to fetch some clothes for another wet Five-0, and seeing Danny still standing looking a little lost in the middle of the ER she approaches him again. "Detective, you should go up to the ICU waiting area. I'm sure your friend will be up there soon."

"Did you hear anything?"

"No. But after they are done with the MRI, I'm sure he will be placed in the ICU. You should wait there for him. It's a lot quieter, more comfortable and quite frankly I would like to get you out of the way down here." She says it with a smile and Danny knows that she only wants to help.

"Thank you, we will do that, as soon as Chin is done and we know that our other team members are okay."

It only takes another ten minutes of waiting, until they can make their way up to the ICU waiting area.

H50 – H50 – H50

Three hours. They have been waiting for _three_ hours now. 180 minutes with no information whatsoever. The nurses are starting to glare at Danny when he comes near their station. He has been there every five minutes, like clockwork. Which means they had to send him back without any news 36 times. And everyone can tell that they are getting tired of it.

"Danny, sit down. You will only piss the nurses off even more. That won't get us anywhere." Chin tries his luck to calm Danny down for probably the tenth time in the last hour.

"What the hell is taking them so long? This can't be good." Danny sits back down, frustrated with the long wait, the information system, the hospital and the world in general.

"We just have to assume that no news is good news, right?" Catherine looks at Chin and Danny.

"Yeah, I guess so." Danny is just glad that Catherine hadn't seen Steve on the beach or in the ambulance.

They fall silent again and keep watching the elevator, hoping that the next _bing_ will announce their friend's arrival.

H50 – H50 – H50

"This is a mess. What is his temperature?" Dr. Robert Wise looks up from his patient's ankle.

"Up to 103.5° from 103° twenty minutes ago."

"I need more solution, there is still sand in the wound. How is he holding up?" Wise looks at his anesthesiologist.

"Amazingly well; BP 110 over 76… 60 BPM… O²level 98 percent. If it stays like this you have time."

"While I'm cleaning the wound again, please set his finger and tape it, nothing too fancy." Dr. Wise addresses his intern. "And check his elbow that was dislocated just two days ago."

"Okay. You want me to bind the two fingers together or should I use a splint?"

"Taping will do. Ah man, look at this mess." Dr. Wise is again concentrating on his work. "Can I see the x-ray again? I don't like the swelling on the outside of the ankle." One of the nurses pulls the x-rays up on the big screen to the side of the operating table. "No break that I can see, but there is a lot of swelling. Looks like he took a hard hit to the ankle. Debby, I need some more suction here please."

"Robert, his BP is dropping. Can you close up soon?"

"Another couple of minutes."

"Good, he's still stable, but not great anymore."

"I'm just putting some stitches in. You can stop the sedation if you want. I'm as good as done."

"Okay."

Dr. Wise only needs another minute until he's finished with the ankle and he's wrapping up his handiwork in thick bandages. "I want that leg elevated for at least two days. No moving around at all. Hopefully we will get the infection under control. And I want blood work three times a day."

One of the nurses is putting all the orders in Steve's chart. Dr. Wise then puts the order for some heavy antibiotics in, all in the hope that the infection is not spreading.

Steve is moved from the operating table over to a gurney for his short trip outside the OR, where his ICU bed is already waiting for him. It's the umpteenth transfer from one bed or gurney to another in the last three hours, but Steve's never stirred for any of it.

In the transfer room outside the OR, Steve is settled comfortably in bed. He is slightly elevated and not lying flat on his back. His leg is placed in a contraption that will keep it pretty much immobile and elevated. Tubes and wires are getting adjusted by one of the nurses. She also hangs two more bags onto his IV stand and all the monitors are switched on. After everything is done he is finally covered with a blanket.

The only sound that is coming from Steve is the rhythmic whooshing of the ventilator that is helping him breathe.

"Dr. Wise, he's ready to go." The nurse informs the surgeon.

"Okay, please get him into ICU and inform Drs. Heller and Chaeng that we're done."

"Yes, doctor."

H50 – H50 – H50

It took another 30 minutes and two more trips by Danny to the nurses' station, until they finally hear the long awaited _bing_ of the elevator. They move as one when they see that it is indeed Steve whose bed is being pushed by two nurses towards an empty room right across from the nurse's station.

Catherine sees her friend for the first time since she left the house in search of a phone. That she is shocked would be an understatement. Danny and Chin are not faring much better, they had hoped that Steve would at least not be on a ventilator anymore. But it looks like something is seriously wrong.

"Please can we…" Danny is approaching one of the nurses.

"In a moment, let us settle him first then you can see him for a minute."

They all step back and watch their friend being settled in the room. The nurse checks every monitor and every wire and tube attached to Steve. Before she leaves she checks the ventilator.

"You can see him now."

Catherine is the first next to his bed and gently touches his forehead that is still far too warm. She bends down and softly kisses his cheek. "Steve, we're all here. You're not alone, please wake up." She whispers into his ear.

Danny moves closer, gently touching Steve on the chest. "Steve, please wake up. We're waiting here for you, okay? Don't sleep too long."

"Hey brah, Danny is right, don't take too long, we need you. Get well." Chin touches his boss on the shoulder.

Three hands are on Steve, hoping to give him strength with their touch. A minute later the nurse is back and telling them they have to leave. They do so, but reluctantly. They feel that if they leave him, he will get lost. And might not be able to find his way back.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny looks into the ICU through the glass wall that separates them from Steve. The doctors are with Steve to check if they can wean him off the ventilator, but his partner stubbornly refuses to breathe on his own. Or to wake up. He was brought into the hospital by EMS four hours ago, but up until now, he is unresponsive to all the treatment he is receiving.

Well, that is not true, they got his heart beating again. Those five minutes on the beach, while he was performing CPR on his best friend, were the longest of his life. Until the EMTs finally arrived and were able to restart Steve's heart.

Danny turns around when he feels a hand on his shoulder. Cath hands him a steaming cup of coffee and motions to the doctors in Steve's room. "Any news?"

"No. They will talk to us when they're finished." Danny doesn't take his eyes off Drs. Heller and Chaeng, who seem to be in a discussion. But he can't hear a word they are saying. They look serious and Dr. Chaeng is shaking his head repeatedly. It takes another minute until they finally leave the room.

Heller and Chaeng stop in front of Danny, "Detective, please let's talk over there." Dr. Heller motions to the group of chairs currently occupied by Five-0.

"How is Steve? No one is willing to tell us anything." Danny has gotten very impatient about the lack of information.

"I completely understand your frustration. I'm sorry it took so long before Commander McGarrett was settled in ICU, but we had to perform some tests and then he was in surgery."

"Surgery?"

"He pulled some stitches on his ankle and the wound got soiled by the seawater, sand and other substances. We needed to clean that very thoroughly again. And he needed another MRI. The good news is we couldn't find any bleeding or swelling of the brain. We will monitor him closely and do another MRI in a few hours. But we're fairly certain that there was no new damage. Also there was no damage to his heart. You did a very good job with your CPR, Detective. Even though you were a little too enthusiastic it seems."

"What do you mean?"

"You cracked his sternum. Thankfully it's not a complete break, but it will hurt him for a couple of weeks."

"Jeez, way to go Danny" he says upset.

"Don't worry about it, that happens more often than you think. Now the bad news is that he was in cardiac arrest for at least five minutes, which means that the brain was not sufficiently supplied with oxygen. It doesn't matter how good your CPR was, it's not the same as a natural heartbeat. Commander McGarrett still needs assistance with his breathing. We tried to wean him off the ventilator, and he started with spontaneous breathing. "

"Why is he still on the ventilator then?" Cath wants to know.

"For different reasons. First off he inhaled a lot of water, his lungs are still not clear. And second, the fight and the resulting injuries took a huge toll on his body. He simply doesn't have the energy to breathe completely on his own. We're not overly concerned about it at the moment." Dr. Heller smiles at the three people in front of him. "He is not deeply unconscious, as he reacts well to pain stimuli and to noises. We will check him again in an hour. Maybe by then we'll be able to remove the ventilator. But as long as he's not awake, it's easier for him with the assisted breathing. Do you have any questions?"

"The water in his lungs, will that be a problem?"

"Yes, Detective. We have him on medication to help him get rid of that, it would be best if he could cough it out. But that is not happening right now."

"When will he wake up?"

"Lieutenant, at the moment he is still unconscious. If he shows more signs of waking, we have to decide to let him completely wake up or to keep him under. It depends on his breathing. If he has to stay on the ventilator, we will keep him under."

"But he will be okay?" Danny still doesn't know exactly how Steve is.

"Detective, it is too early to say anything concrete. I'm sorry. There can be all kinds of complications. At the moment his condition is listed as critical. As soon as his breathing starts to improve we will change it to stable. I can't _promise_ you a full recovery, but he _should_ recover fully. But please remember he was in full cardiac arrest for quite some time. We simply can't rule out brain damage as long as we can't do some tests for which he needs to be awake."

"So, basically what you're saying is, we have to wait for him to wake up?"

"Yes, Lieutenant Kelly. It's completely up to him now. He needs to want to wake up."

The two doctors leave the team alone again to tend to their other patients.

"Chin, how are Kono and Lori?"

"They will be released in a couple of hours, same as the two officers. They only had to sleep it off. They will have kind of a hangover, but their doctor said they will all be fine."

"That's good. Catherine, did you call the admiral?"

"Yes, he will be here at 0700 h."

"Then he is early, here he comes," Danny motions to the nurses' station where Admiral Dickens is getting directions.

They watch him approach but he stops at the glass wall where he can see Steve lying in his bed. He looks into the room for a moment before making his way over to the team.

"Lieutenant Rollins, why is one of my men in the ICU? What happened?"

"Sir." Catherine comes to attention but is dismissed right away and they all take a seat.

"Tell me what happened to Commander McGarrett. Is he going to be alright?"

"Admiral, Steve was attacked by Mick Douglas. At least that is the name we have for him. We don't know his real name yet. Steve's condition is critical but his doctor is hopeful." Danny begins to tell him what has happened in the last hours.

"Is 'Mick Douglas' still alive?" Admiral Dickens asks after Danny is finished.

"He is still in surgery; they think he might make it." Danny was able to get that information from one of the nurses.

"Have you found Ms. Parker yet?"

"No, Sir. We still don't know where Douglas spent the last twenty-four hours." Danny answers the question and squeezes Catherine's hand. He knows how worried she is about her friend.

"I brought you a file I received a couple of hours ago from NI." The admiral is showing them a flash drive. "It contains all the information they gathered on Carter Lines. That is Mick Douglas' real name. Maybe it will help you find Ms. Parker. I'm sorry I couldn't give you the information any sooner. NCIS and NI couldn't agree on how to proceed with the matter. NCIS will handle the case from now on, but they will keep you in the loop. If they give you any grief, please give me a call."

"Thank you, Admiral."

"Please keep me posted on Commander McGarrett's condition. Gentlemen, Lieutenant."

Before they can even react, he stands up and leaves them alone.

"Well, that was a surprise." Danny looks after Admiral Dickens.

"Danny, you want to…" is as far as Chin gets, when an alarm at the nurses' station goes off. All three of them know instantly that it's coming from Steve's room. Which is confirmed when two nurses and an intern move quickly to his bed.

H50 – H50 – H50


	20. Chapter 20 Translation needed

**This is getting rather frustrating. It's the third time that I'm posting this chapter. It seems to vanish after a few hours. I hope it will stay this time.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 20 – Translation needed<strong>

"Get a cooling blanket and ice-packs in here. And turn that damn alarm off." The young intern, whose name they don't know yet calls out to one of the nurses.

"What is wrong with Steve?" Danny asks the young doc.

"You all have to leave." The doctor is not even looking at Danny but is occupied with taking Steve's leg out of the wide sling that held it up until now.

"What are you doing?"

"Detective, please, I'm trying to save your friend. Leave." He levels the bed and the Five-0 watch as Steve is laid flat on his back. "Where is that ice?" 'Young doc', as Danny has named him calls out.

"Here, Dr. Cook." One of the nurses comes back with six ice-packs.

Dr. Cook takes the first two packs and places them under Steve's armpits, the next two land on both sides of his groin and the last two left and right of his neck. He checks Steve's temperature again and curses while doing so. "Get that cooling blanket in here before his brain gets cooked."

"Please tell us what's going on?" Danny looks pleadingly at Dr. Cook, who's obviously accepted that the three people won't leave voluntarily.

"Your friend's fever has spiked to 106°, which is life-threateningly high. We need to get it down right now. The infection is wreaking havoc with his system. If we can't get the fever down, brain damage is almost a given. Short of an ice bath, the ice on the glands is the most effective way to cool him down." Dr. Cook injects another syringe into the IV and they can almost see the racing heartbeat slowing down.

Finally, the nurse is back with an electric blanket they spread over Steve. His friends can only watch as the nurses and the doctor buzz around the overheated figure in the bed. The ventilator is the only machinery attached to Steve that is not sending any kind of alarm. All the other monitors are beeping and blinking in a seemingly chaotic concert.

Every new alarm causes Dr. Cook to inject another drug into Steve's system. All in the hope of stabilizing the rapidly crashing body. Steve's blood pressure is all over the place and his heartbeat, that had just been low, is once again racing.

"Temperature is going down, Doctor. It's 105." One of the nurses says after checking it again.

Ten minutes later, Dr. Cook declares Steve stable, with a temperature hovering just shy of 104. "Take the ice off, but leave the blanket on for now," he instructs the one remaining nurse. "Call me if his temp rises again."

"Is Steve gonna be okay?" Catherine asks before the doctor can leave.

"For now. The infection and his weakened state caused his system to give out on him. But he's a fighter. We will monitor him closely. You should all go home, there is nothing you can do right now. He is going to stay sedated for at least the next twelve hours. And you can't stay with him. Please go home, or do your police thing, or whatever you do."

"I'm staying." They say it as one.

"No, you're not. Have you looked at yourselves lately? In your states, you will be of no help to Commander McGarrett when he wakes up. And believe me, he will need your help. GO HOME. Come back tonight. Maybe he will wake up by then. We will call you if anything changes."

Reluctantly they agree to leave, but not before everyone says their goodbye to Steve, with the promise to be back.

H50 – H50 – H50

_**36 hours later**_

_What the heck is that noise? And why is it so dark in here? Wherever here is. Oh, yeah that might help, open the eyes. Good idea, Genius. Shut up, Danny._ Steve frowns, he is pretty sure that no one was just talking to him. _Then why do I hear Danny? Huh?_ Steve tries to follow that train of thought, but is just so tired that he doesn't even manage to open his eyes.

_Why can't I move? What the hell?_ Steve tries to move his legs and arms, but nothing is happening. Panic rises in him. Memories of the last days flooding his brain. _Oh god, I drowned. Am I brain dead? No, can't be, I'm thinking. Am I? Maybe I'm dead. No, no, that can't be right._ The annoying noise is getting louder and a lot faster. _What IS that?_

"Commander McGarrett, can you hear me?"

_YES!_

"Commander, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand!"

_I can hear you, damn it._

_Argggggghhhhh! Stop that, oh god, that hurts._

"I'm sorry, Detective, but his pupils are still very slow reacting," Dr. Chaeng says after shining the penlight in both of Steve's eyes. "His brain waves are very low, he is still deeply unconscious."

_NO! I'm NOT. I'm right here. _

"It's been thirty six hours without any change. We might need to rethink his condition. He still isn't showing any signs of waking up."

"But his heartbeat got so fast just now, doesn't that mean some kind of reaction?"

_Yes, Danny, YES, I'm awake!_

"No, I'm sorry, Detective. Commander McGarrett is still fighting the infection and his body is just reflecting that. His breathing has improved, that is a good sign. Look, I'm not saying that he won't wake up. But there is the possibility of more damage to the brain than we first thought. There is no physical injury we can see, but your friend did technically drown. He was without a pulse and sufficient air supply for several long minutes."

_Brain Damage? I'm not brain damaged, damn it. Please, please hear me. Danny! Danny! _

"Da…" Steve is very proud to have made that little sound.

Suddenly he can feel a flurry of activity around him, he gets prodded and that damn light shines into his eyes again.

"Stthatargh"

"I think you're hurting him." Danny tells Dr. Chaeng.

_Way to go D, tell him!_

"Steve, can you hear me? Can you give me any sign? Can you move?" Danny takes Steve's left hand. "Can you squeeze my hand?"

Steve puts all his willpower into his hand, but is not sure that he moved anything until he hears Danny's overjoyed voice.

"Yes, you did it. You're doing great, Steven. I know you can hear me. Listen, can you squeeze once for yes?" Danny looks down at the slack hand and it's not really a squeeze but more of a feather light touch. "Wonderful, Steve. Okay, once for yes, two for no. Okay?"

Again there is the light movement of fingers.

"Steve, are you in pain?"

_YES! My head and chest are killing me, D!_

"Wow, that was a pretty strong squeeze. Does your head hurt? … Yes. What else? Sorry, that was stupid. Ehm, upper body? … Yes. Your chest? … Yes. I'm so sorry Steve, that is my fault. I cracked your sternum."

_What? How? We will talk about that later, Danny. Please give me something for it… oh, that feels good. Thank you. _

"Dr. Chaeng is giving you something for the pain, you should feel better in a minute."

_Danny, why can't I move? What's wrong? I'm so tired. Don't leave._

Danny looks down at his hand on which Steve has a pretty strong hold by now. He can see that Steve's whole arm is slightly trembling, it must be an enormous effort for him to keep his grip on Danny's hand.

"Steve, just try to relax. I'm not going anywhere. You will be fine, I promise. Just go back to sleep, you will feel a lot better when you wake up again. That's it, just relax." Danny looks up at the heart monitor that begins beeping in a slower rhythm. "Has he gone back to sleep?"

"I'd say so. Detective, I must say, I'm amazed. Your partner is very lucky to have you here. You have been very annoying the last few days, but thank you for that on his behalf." Dr. Chaeng smiles at the detective, who has been bugging the hell out of him; stubbornly refusing to leave the commander's side once he arrived back in the hospital after being practically thrown out. Telling everyone that McGarrett will be fine, and that he's not leaving until he's awake again. "We're doing another EEG to see if there is any change."

"Why can't he move? Or even open his eyes?"

"The waking up process after something like Commander McGarrett's gone through is very complicated. He won't just open his eyes and everything will be fine. First of all, he has a severe concussion and received numerous hits to his head. He is very lucky not to have any bleeding or swelling of the brain. The fight and the drowning were very traumatic on his whole body. His lungs are still not completely clear; he has two broken bones." Dr. Chaeng laughs at Danny's startled look. "The finger might not be such a big deal, but it is a broken bone. And his cracked sternum is causing him pain with every breath he takes. He was on a ventilator for twenty-four hours. He is also fighting a serious infection. Detective, the list goes on. All in all, Steve feels like crap. And his brain is waking up in stages. His brain will take as much time as it needs."

"But he will be fine?"

"Half an hour ago, my prognosis would have been very different. But the commander has surprised me. He is well on his way to waking up. It is too early to say for sure that there won't be any lasting effects. But I'm very optimistic."

It seems that Danny won't get anything better out of the doctor, so he settles on the hope for a good outcome for now.

H50 – H50 – H50

There is that damn noise again, but this time Steve can identify it as the beeping of a heart monitor. _It's probably my own heart that is causing the steady beeping._ Steve has to smile at that thought. _Seems that I'm not dead after all._

"Steve?" Catherine softly speaks up when she sees the smile on her friend's face. Gently touching his forehead she frowns at the warmth that is still coming off it.

"Hmm." The cool hand feels so good on his overheated skin. Steve gives in to the wonderful sensation of being touched. But too soon the hand vanishes before being replaced by a wet cloth. The coolness of it lets Steve sigh in pure bliss.

"You like that, huh?" Cath asks in a low voice.

Steve feels her leaning down and placing a sweet kiss on his lips. He tries to open his eyes, to see that she really is here and this is not just a dream. But struggling to do so hurts his head and he can't keep the groan in that his efforts cause.

"Steve, it's okay, you don't have to open your eyes, just relax," Danny assures his friend.

_Danny! Didn't drown, not gonna get kicked out. Not gonna happen, buddy._

"What did you say? Steve, tell us again." Danny nudges him to repeat his gibberish in the hope he becomes a little more awake. Even though he's pretty sure that he's very awake, at least inside his head. Steve only needs to find his way out of there.

"Didntdrown, notgonkickedout…"

Danny has to laugh at that, which earns him a questioning look from Cath. "No babe, you did real good. I'm sure they won't take your SEAL badge away for drowning." He tells Steve with a laugh. "You were listening to us all the time, weren't you?" He turns to Cath to give her an explanation, "I 'threatened' him in the ambulance that the SEALs would kick him out for pulling such crap on us. Guess for a change he listened to me."

_ALWAYS listen to you, just chose to ignore it sometimes. _

"Did you say something, Steve?"

"Nope."

"Could have fooled me there for a minute." Danny grins down at his friend, even though he can't see the smile, since his eyes are still closed. "Listen, you want to try opening your eyes again?"

"Hurts"

"Your head hurts? Is it bad?"

"Hmm."

"Okay, we'll call the doctor, I'm sure he'll want to know that you're awake again." Danny presses the button for the nurse.

_Don't let him near me with that damn light! He's killing me here._

"N'light"

"Steve, 'light'? You're not making sense… Oh, you mean the penlight? That hurts you?"

"Don't let him use it."

"Hey, that was a full sentence. We won't let him hurt you." Danny's not sure if he can keep Chaeng from shining a light into Steve's eyes, but he will try.

It takes a few more minutes for Dr. Chaeng to arrive after Danny informed the nurse that Steve was awake.

"Detective, Lt. Rollins, can you give me some room please?" Dr. Chaeng motions for Catherine to let him take her place on Steve's right side.

"He is complaining that his head hurts, and please don't use your light on him." Danny speaks up for his friend.

Dr. Chaeng nods at him and turns to his patient. "Steve, can you hear me?"

"Yeah." Steve's speech is only slightly slurred.

"Can you tell me your name?"

"Steve."

"You just heard that from me and from your friends. What is your last name and your rank?"

They can see that he frowns for a moment, clearly thinking about the question. "McGarrett. Lieutenant commander."

"Very good, Commander. Do you remember what happened?"

Again there is a frown on his face and it takes longer before he answers. "Not sure."

"What DO you remember?"

"Beach… Danny was hurt… water… dying…" Steve stops and takes a deep breath that causes him to grimace in pain. "My head hurts… hurts to breathe."

"I'll give you something for the pain, how bad is it. From one to ten?"

"Head… eleven, chest… seven. Can't feel my legs." Steve weakly moves his arms but his legs refuse to do anything.

"Don't worry about that, you have no spinal injury, you will be just fine." Dr. Chaeng tries to assure him as he injects some pain medication into the IV. "This should help you really quickly. Please try to open your eyes, Commander."

"No light!"

"I promise, no light."

Steve gives opening his eyes another try. His eyelids feel like they're glued shut, they are so very heavy but after a moment he manages to achieve his goal. His vision is blurry and out of focus. He can barely make out Danny and Catherine. "Hi."

"Hi." Catherine very softly speaks to him while she caresses the side of his head and places a gentle kiss on his forehead. "You had us so worried."

"Sorry." Steve whispers.

"Not your fault, Steven." Danny actually thinks it's his own fault, not Steve's, but now is not the time to talk about it.

"Commander, I'd like to perform some more tests."

Steve turns his head to Dr. Chaeng and regrets that movement instantly when the room starts spinning. Which causes his stomach to do some summersaults. "I don't feel good."

"Do you feel sick, Commander?" Dr. Chaeng checks Steve's chart for anti-nausea medication. Seeing that he's not on any at the moment, he excuses himself.

"Steve, the doc is getting you something. Hang in there, I'm sure you'll feel better in a minute."

"Mick?"

"You mean Carter Lines?"

"Who?" Steve again lies with his eyes closed and tries to keep his stomach contents where they belong. But he's pretty sure that he won't hold it for much longer. "Feel sick."

"You gonna puke?" Danny grabs the basin just in case.

"Commander, this will help." Dr. Chaeng returns with yet another syringe he empties in Steve's IV port.

Steve can feel the coolness travel up his arm and concentrates on that instead of his rolling stomach. The nausea abates almost instantly and Steve doesn't care if it's because he 'willed' it away or because the medication is actually acting that fast, which he doubts.

After a minute he feels himself drifting again. Steve tries to stay focused but there are so many pictures and thoughts in his head that he gets a little lost. Finally, after a few more minutes he gives up and allows himself to drift away. Knowing that his friends will be there when he wakes up. Just before he is completely gone he thinks about his legs again and that he can't feel them, but before he can panic again, sleep claims him.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny and Catherine follow Dr. Chaeng out of the room, after they made sure that Steve really is asleep. "Dr. Chaeng, can we have a word with you please?"

"Of course, Detective. Let's talk in my office."

They walk quietly to Dr. Chaeng's office at the end of the hallway. Danny is amazed by how cluttered it is. It's small and full of books and stuff he can't even identify, but the desk is pretty much clutter-free. A few medical files are laying on it, but other than a phone, it's empty.

"Please, have a seat." Dr. Chaeng motions for his visitors to sit in the armchairs in front of his desk.

"Thank you. Dr. Chaeng, why can't Steve move his legs and why is his speech so screwed up?"

"First of all, Detective, let me tell you that Steve is doing amazingly well."

"He doesn't seem well to me. He's sick as a dog, ready to puke at any minute, he's in pain, and he can't MOVE HIS LEGS. That is not amazingly well." Danny's getting really angry at almost every doctor and nurse he has encountered in this hospital. If one more person tells him how well his friend is doing, he will get arrested for murder. He smiles at Cath who had laid her hand on his arm in an effort to calm him down.

"Okay. Let me make something very clear to you, Detective. Your friend DIED two days ago. His heart stopped for over five minutes. He drowned. If it weren't for you and the amazing work of the EMTs on their way here, you would be attending his funeral instead of visiting him here." Dr. Chaeng pauses to allow Danny and Cath to process the words. "Commander McGarrett is extremely lucky to even be alive. Honestly, when he had that high fever, I would not have put my money on him surviving."

"He's a fighter." Danny softly says.

"Yes he is. Now, about his legs. He does not have any spinal injuries. His spinal cord is not injured or compressed by swelling in any way. However he does have a severe concussion; and his brain suffered through insufficient air supply and had to endure a high fever for several hours. He was unconscious for a little over 36 hours. He won't just wake up and everything will be fine."

"But he will be all right?" Catherine just wants to believe that. She can't imagine her friend trapped in a broken body.

"Well, the brain is a funny thing. He might wake up in the morning able to move his legs. Or it might take a few days or weeks. Or, there is a possibility he might never get control back over his lower body. Or he might get some control back. I simply can't say. Only time will tell if his brain is permanently damaged or not."

"So what you're saying is that he does have brain damage from lack of oxygen?"

"No, Detective. What I'm saying is that he suffered multiple trauma and that his brain needs time to catch up. Be there for him. Help him find his way back. He is responding to you both very well."

"We will all be there for him, no matter what the outcome."

"That is good. You should go home for the night, get some rest. He will sleep until morning."

"You sedated him?"

"No. It doesn't take much for him to get knocked out at the moment. The pain meds and antibiotics alone will make him drowsy. The anti-nausea medication I just gave him did the rest. Trust me, he will sleep through the night, or at least until early morning."

Danny looks at Catherine who also seems very reluctant to leave their friend alone for the night. "Maybe Dr. Chaeng is right. We should meet with Chin and Kono, update them. I burdened them with all the work and I should check in with them. You could also use some rest." Danny doesn't like it, but they can't stay with Steve 24/7. He did that the past day, but if they want to be there for him when he's awake, they need to rest when he is sleeping. Wouldn't do anybody any good if they keel over.

"Okay. Thank you Dr. Chaeng," Danny told him, "for everything you're doing for Steve. We will come back in the morning."

"Good. We're going to transfer him to a private room in a few hours. Ask at the nurse's station which room he will be in."

"So you're downgrading his status again?" Danny thinks that is a good sign.

"Yes, he is stable and doesn't need to be in the ICU anymore. His infection is under control and his fever is down to a very manageable 101. He no longer needs constant supervision. Of course we will still monitor his vitals very closely. But the heavy equipment isn't necessary anymore. And he will be much more comfortable in the private room."

"That is a good step, right?"

"Yes, Lt. Rollins. Tomorrow we will do another battery of tests, so it will be a good thing for him to get lots of sleep tonight."

"We will be back first thing in the morning."

"Danny, I can't. I have to attend a meeting on base, but I'll come by as soon as I can."

"Don't worry, I'll let Steve know."

"Thanks."

"Dr. Chaeng, thank you for your time." Danny says as he gets up.

"You're welcome. If you have any questions, please have a nurse page me. I'll get back to you as soon as I'm able."

"Thank you."

Cath and Danny leave his office with more hope than they had before their talk. They both believe strongly that Steve will overcome this and find his way back to his old self.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Hey, good morning." Danny Williams comes into the hospital room way too chipper for Steve's liking.

"Mornin'" Steve barely replies. He looks at his friend and has to smile despite his best effort to show how grumpy and miserable he has been since he woke up three hours ago. But the sight in front of him is one to behold. Danny is dressed in jeans and a polo-shirt. A polo-shirt. Steve just wishes he had the strength to sit up and look at his shoes.

"I knew this would put a smile on your face. How do you feel?" Danny sits down next to his friend's bed.

_I feel like crap, I CAN'T move my fucking legs, Danny. I'm going nuts, and no one was here when I woke up. Everything hurts! Fuck!_

Steve leans his head back in frustration, because what's in his head is not coming out of his mouth. It gets lost somewhere on the way, and it frustrates him to no end.

"Hey, hey, Steve, calm down. What's wrong? Are you in pain? You need me to call the doctor?" Danny looks worriedly at his partner who seems very agitated but is not talking to him.

"Can't."

"Can't what, Steve? Tell me what is bothering you?" Danny knows that it is a pretty stupid question and sees in Steve's face that he thinks the same.

"I'm ME in… my head… but I can't get it out."

"You mean you feel trapped? You can _think_ normally but the words don't come out?"

"Yeah." Steve almost sags in relief because Danny understood him right away.

"Steve, listen to me. Dr. Chaeng said your brain is still not really awake, so to speak. But it will be. Don't worry, you will entertain us with your usual chatty self really soon." Danny can't help but tease his normally quiet partner.

"Funny."

"Yeah, I thought so. But seriously, Steven, you WILL be fine. Your brain got scrambled big time. You, my friend, were on life support for an entire day. You had such a high fever they thought you would melt. Give yourself a little time."

"D, I can't feel anything… below my waist. What if…"

"No, no, there are no 'what ifs'. You will be fine, Steven. There is no reason to believe otherwise."

_Easy for you to say. You're not the one in this fucking bed, unable to move or even pee when you want._

Steve just looks at his friend and can see that Danny really believes what he's saying. "K'." Steve uses his arms to push himself a little higher up in bed, but it's hard without being able to use his left leg and with his right one still elevated in the sling. And that his damn groin muscles hurt like hell don't make it easier. "Danny!"

"What? Steven, what is it?" Danny looks at his friend and can see that he has the most shit eating grin on his face Danny has ever seen on anybody. "Steve?"

"Argh. Danny, it hurts." In total contrast to his words, and the pain he's in, Steve is still grinning.

"What hurts?"

"My leg. My leg hurts. Ouch."

"Can you move it?"

"No." Steve lays his head back and breathes through the intense pain radiating from his groin down his thigh.

"Hang in there, I've already called the nurse."

It takes almost fifteen minutes for Dr. Chaeng to come see Steve again.

"Commander, I'm told you have feelings in your legs?" Dr. Chaeng takes in the obvious signs of pain Steve can't hide.

"It hurts." Steve pants out. The pain in his upper leg intensified to an almost unbearable level.

"Can you move your leg?"

"No. It just hurts." Steve is still grabbing at his right leg.

"Where is the pain located?" Dr. Chaeng asks Steve while he carefully takes the leg out of the sling and gently lowers it onto the bed.

"Groin… radiating down."

"Okay, it will be better in a minute, Commander. Detective, can you hand me the pillow?" He motions to the special pillow that is normally used to elevate a leg. "And push it under the leg?"

Together they manage to make Steve a little more comfortable, with his leg now fully supported and only slightly elevated.

"Is that a little better?"

"Yeah." Steve relaxed quite a bit as soon as the limb was out of the sling and lowered, now with it lying on the pillow the pain is down to a dull throbbing. The strain on the muscles is almost completely gone.

"Okay, let me make a quick check. Detective, would you leave for a moment, please?"

"NO! Danny, stay please." Steve is almost panicked to be left alone with the doctor. "Need you… to trans… trans… damn."

"To translate for you? It's okay babe, I'm right here. I'm staying, doc." Danny stepped closer and put his hand on Steve's left shoulder, smiling down at him reassuringly.

"Very well, I just wanted to give the commander some privacy."

"Nothing I haven't seen before." Danny blurts out without thinking.

Steve actually giggles at that. _Danny, now YOU are spreading new rumors._ He grins up at his friend, who is actually blushing.

Danny decides to ignore both of them and watches as Dr. Chaeng folds the cover back and exposes both legs now. Steve is wearing loose fitting boxers and Danny cringes a little by the sight of the foley sneaking out.

"Can't feel it, Danny." Steve saw the flinch and lets him know that the catheter is not uncomfortable this time. Thanks to not having any feelings below the belt.

Instead of an answer he just squeezes Steve's shoulder.

"Commander, please try to move your left leg."

"Not feeling… anything on left." But he still tries to move it, without accomplishing anything.

"Tell me when you feel something." Dr. Cheang uses a large blunt needle to prod Steve's leg in various places. But doesn't get a response. "You felt none of that?"

"No."

Chaeng takes the leg and moves and bends it at the knee, "Anything?"

"No."

"Okay, let's see how the right side is faring." Dr. Chaeng starts with his needle as far down on the ankle as the bandages allow. He slowly works his way up and just above the knee Steve speaks up.

"I feel that."

"Good." Chaeng checks the rest of the leg. "Well it seems that you can feel your thigh but not your hip or belly. And nothing below the knee. Please try to move your right leg."

They watch as Steve tries to move, and this time they can see the muscles in his thigh contracting, but it's not enough to get the leg moving.

"Argh, cramp."

Chaeng instantly massages the cramping muscles and it only takes him a minute to relax them. "We will put you on a localized muscle relaxant; that should help with the cramps. Commander, you really shouldn't worry about the paralysis. It's not related to any spinal injury. To explain it in simple terms, at the moment your brain is not able to send the signals out in the right order. That is why your speech is affected and that is also why you have no control over your body below your waist. But I assure you everything works just fine. Give yourself some time."

"Dizzy… up."

"Steve gets dizzy every time he sits up higher than right now. And nauseous, he gets sick when sitting up." Danny 'translates' for the doctor.

_This is pretty cool, D._ Steve grins at his partner, who seems to be able to read his mind.

"Well, he still has a severe concussion and should not be too highly elevated anyway. Keep him in this position for another couple of days." Chaeng tells Danny

_Hey, HE is right here. I can hear and understand you just fine._

"Steve is not deaf. He can understand you just fine." Danny almost angrily tells Chaeng.

_Tell him Danno!_

"Sorry, Commander. We're going to take you down for some more tests."

"What… D comes." Steve has no idea when he became so clingy, but he doesn't want to be left alone until he can at least move his legs again. He feels totally vulnerable and if he's honest with himself, very scared.

"What kind of tests? And I'm gonna go with him." Danny will make sure that his friend is not left alone until he can move and articulate himself better. Or at least until Steve, himself throws them out. But the relieved smile on Steve's face tells him that won't happen any time soon.

"That is fine, Detective, you can come. Commander, we're going to test your lung function and I would like to get another MRI. Also Dr. Wise wants to take another look at your ankle. Does your chest still hurt badly?"

_I don't want another damn MRI. That is way too loud, I'll get sick again in that thing. And yeah, breathing still hurts like hell, but I'm not gonna send Danny on another guilt trip._

"MRI hurts… be sick again."

"We will make sure that you won't hear a thing this time and I promise you will not get sick again. You didn't answer my question; does your chest still hurt?"

Steve looks in apology at Danny and nods his head.

"Okay, Dr. Wise might take another x-ray, or we take a picture in the MRI. You shouldn't be in such pain from just a hairline fracture. I won't knock you out, but I promise you will be comfortable during it all, and be back here before you know it."

_I'll believe that when I see it._

"Okay."

H50 – H50 – H50

* * *

><p><em><strong>Thank you all so much for reading. Now tell me what you're thinking, please.<strong>_


	21. Chapter 21 Tying up loose ends

**Chapter 21 – Tying up loose ends**

All in all it took over three hours for all the tests to be completed, and for Steve to be back in his bed. As Chaeng had promised, Steve was kept comfortable through it all. Even in the MRI. But that was mostly due to Danny, who kept talking the whole time. Danny's voice was all Steve could hear while he was in it. Of course after the scan, Danny complained that Steve had fallen asleep in the middle of his story.

Steve had a tiny crisis in the OR when he got sick during the transfer onto the OR-table. But that was just a minor glitch in the otherwise smooth three-hour testing marathon. As he didn't have any feeling in his lower body, they hadn't even needed to sedate him for the procedure of cleaning out the wound. Danny thinks it was the most gross thing he's ever seen. And he can only imagine how much that would hurt without sedation. But Steve assured him that he couldn't feel a thing.

Danny was well aware that they had received some very amusing looks from the nurses. They found it all so very cute that he was helping his 'boyfriend' through all the tests. At some point he gave up on correcting them. Danny wonders what they will think when they catch Steve 'cheating' on him with Catherine. That thought actually brings a smile to his face.

"What'ya smilin' at?"

"Catherine."

That provokes a frown on his friend's face. "What?"

"Ah, jeez, Steve, where are your thoughts going?" Danny shakes his head at Steve, but the frown stays in place.

"She's not here."

"No, she's not. Remember, she had to meet the General this morning."

"Ad… admiral."

Danny grins at that.

"She okay?"

"Yes, of course she is okay. She was here last night. Don't you remember?"

"No." Steve shakes his head at that. He can only remember bits and pieces of yesterday. He knows that he was awake at some point and that Danny was there with Dr. Chaeng, but he can't remember Cath.

"Don't worry about that, you were pretty out of it yesterday. You seem a lot clearer this morning."

"I am Danny. Actually I don't feel so bad. Other than that my head hurts and I still can't feel my legs. But hey, what's a little paralysis, right? What are you looking at?"

"You're talking."

"What?"

"You're talking." Danny grins at his friend.

"Yeah, I guess I am. Wow, I mean, just like that? That's a good sign, right?" Steve looks hopefully at his friend.

"I'm sure it's a great sign. Now only the rest of your body needs to wake up, and you're good to go."

"Danny, what if I stay like this?"

"We talked about it yesterday, Steve. You won't."

"You don't know that, Danny. Don't act like it's not a possibility. Because it is, Danny. I can't feel anything below my waist. I can't even pee without a fucking tube. This is fucking real and please don't say it will change, because you don't know that." Steve is suddenly angry at Danny for taking this so lightly.

"I didn't mean to downplay your situation. I can't even imagine how it must be for you right now," Danny replied, trying to console his friend. "You just have to have faith. Everything will work out in the end."

"Faith? You are telling me to have faith? YOU? You told me you only believe what you see with your own eyes. So look at me, Danny. What do you see? Huh, what do you see?"

"I see my friend, who is very angry right now. And he has every right to be. Yell at me if you want. It's okay, Steven. I know you're scared. I would be terrified. And yes, I mostly only believe what I can see and touch. But I know you, and I know you will not give up. You will walk out of here. And I bet it won't even be that long before you do." Danny can see that Steve is struggling with his emotions. "You want to be alone for a minute?"

"No, please don't go, Danny."

"I'm not going anywhere. You are stuck with me my friend."

"That is good to hear, Detective. Your friend needs you right now." Nurse Anny just came into the room.

"You're planning this, aren't you?" He stage whispers to Steve.

"Detective, would you excuse us for a few minutes?"

"What? Why does he have to leave?"

"Commander, I need to remove the foley and I'm sure you don't want any witnesses?"

"Why are you removing it?"

"We like to remove it as soon as possible, to reduce the risk of infection."

"Yeah, I get that, but I can't… I mean…"

"Don't worry, every four to six hours you will be able to empty your bladder. I'll teach you how."

That is actually too much information for Steve. He never even thought about the long-term ramifications a permanent paralysis would have for him.

"Ehm… Steve, I'll wait outside? I won't go far, call if you need me." Danny looks encouragingly at his friend, who looks totally miserable, before he slips out the door.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Kono?" Chin looks at his cousin, who stands at the smart table, seemingly lost in thoughts. When she turns his way, he can see that she had been crying. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" She shakes her head at him. "Steve CAN'T move. He is paralyzed, if you haven't noticed." Kono answers him upset.

"I know. But he won't be for long."

"You know, you and Danny? You are really getting on my nerves."

"What?"

"Steve can't feel anything below his waist!" Kono is beside herself. "And you act like nothing is wrong. He might never walk again. You have any idea how terrifying that is? How scared he is?"

"Kono, he also might get out of bed tomorrow and be fine." Chin tries to calm her down.

"Yeah, but he also might never be okay again. Can you imagine what that would mean for him?"

"He would adapt."

"Adapt? You and your fucking Zen philosophy are driving me crazy." She almost yells at Chin.

"That's enough, Kono! What is this really about? We're all worried about Steve. And yes, I do know how scared he must be. Why are YOU so scared?"

"Cousin Keneke." Kono only whispers.

Chin looks at her in shock. He hasn't thought about his cousin in years. "Kono, that was totally different."

"How was that any different? He ended up in a wheelchair… and then he killed himself."

"First of all, Keneke was in a car crash and his spinal cord was severed. He never ever would have walked again. He was paralyzed the moment the other car hit him and had no chance of recovery. His situation was very different. And most importantly he was nothing like Steve. He didn't have the support of his family and friends. We didn't even know he was injured until it was too late."

"No, Chin. He _made_ the decision not to live like that. What if Steve comes to the same conclusion?"

"Kono, Steve has been in the hospital for just two days. Please, calm down. We don't know anything yet. But even if the worst comes to the worst Steve will adapt to the new situation. It's what he does. He will be okay. And we will all be there for him. But trust me on this, it will not come to that, he will walk out of that hospital."

"I wish I could be so sure. How do you do that?"

"I don't know. I just know he will be fine."

"Okay. I'll hold you to that, cuz."

"You do that. Now, can we start working?"

"Yeah. I'm good. Will Danny stay with Steve?"

"Yeah, he'll come by later, when Cath is with Steve." Chin says while he puts the content of the file they got from the admiral on the big screen.

"Is there even any useful information in the file? Anything concrete about Carter Lines?" Kono had been looking at the file for hours now, but couldn't find anything that would bring them closer to the people behind Lines and therefore responsible for Jinny's kidnapping and Steve's planned kidnapping.

"Not much that I can see. NCIS is not forthcoming and NI is totally stonewalling. I'm actually surprised that we got this much." Chin tried to contact the admiral, but he wasn't any help. Only telling them that Steve's involvement in the case was classified.

"I don't think we will find out who is behind all this, Chin. They're just not willing to give us any information. Why are they blocking us like that?"

"Well, I'm sure NCIS would work with us, if they needed to investigate the murder of Navy personnel. But that is not the case. Steve's involvement is classified, which means we won't get any information about what he was supposed to be doing. As far as they are concerned their case is closed. They have their kidnapper, Lines, and they know that he killed George, Dan and Bill. Even their officers, Steve and Cath, are not in danger anymore." Chin is rather frustrated about all this.

"Yeah, but we still don't know where Jinny is." Kono doesn't think that the case is closed at all. She wants answers.

"It's not their job to find her. But we won't give up. Let's get through Lines' phone history. NCIS included that file but said there was nothing interesting in it. But they look at things from a different perspective. Maybe it will lead us to Jinny." Chin hopes that they will at least get a promising lead out of the phone log.

"Chin, why didn't he take precautions with his phone? It would have been easy not to save the calls made with it."

"Maybe he was just overconfident. Look at his sloppy work with his prints. He left them everywhere, just because he was not in the system. Not a very smart move."

Chin prints out the phone list and they each take a page of it to follow up on the numbers, in the hope of getting closer to finding Jinny.

H50 – H50 – H50

"Danny, how is he?" Catherine just arrived after her meeting with Admiral Dickens. She moves to the bed and looks down at her sleeping friend.

"Taking a nap. I think his head is really bothering him, the headache was pretty bad before he fell asleep. The nurse was here, stayed almost half an hour and removed the foley. I don't know what they talked about, but Steve didn't say a single word after she left. He fell asleep a few minutes ago." Danny's worried about the mood his friend has been in since the nurse was with him.

"They removed the catheter? That's great, Danny. So he has control back?" Catherine asks, full of hope.

"No. He can't feel anything. She explained it, but frankly I didn't really understand how he's going to pee in a few hours. I don't even think I want to know. This makes it so real, you know. Simple body functions you take for granted are suddenly an act you need assistance with. I think it got to Steve as well."

They both look at their friend and just hope that he won't need any more lessons in taking care of basic needs. That he will be able to leave this hospital fully functional.

"Did you see that?" Danny steps closer to the bed and watches Steve intently.

"Did I see what?"

"He moved his leg. Look."

They can clearly see that Steve is moving his left leg and settles into a more comfortable position.

"Dr. Chaeng said everything is working fine, he just needs the control back." Catherine bends down for a kiss. "Steve? Can you hear me? Danny, he's still really warm." She smooths back his hair and wonders why Steve is still running a slight fever.

"One of the nurses told me it was nothing to worry about. It's actually caused by the antibiotics, not by the infection any more. It's under control and he should be fine."

"Steve, come on, wake up." Cath is torn between letting him sleep and waking him up so 'he' can see his leg moving.

"Hmm. What?" Steve mumbles something else, but they can't understand a word of it. But they are very happy to see that his waking up process is accompanied by even more leg movement.

"Steve, you're moving." Danny tells him.

"Moving? Where am I moving? Don't wanna move… wanna sleep. Go 'way." It's obvious that Steve is not as excited by his leg movements as his friends are. Sleep seems way more important at the moment. They can only watch as he drifts back to sleep.

"Well, guess we have to wait a little longer." Cath smiles down at Steve who is by now deeply asleep again.

"Catherine, can I leave you alone for a while? I should check in with Kono and Chin."

"Sure Danny, I'll call if anything happens. But it looks like he may sleep for a while."

"Dr. Chaeng said that he would sleep a lot in the next couple of days. With the fever, the pain and the medication, he's pretty beat. I'll be back in a few hours, okay?"

"I'll tell him, if he wakes up before that," Catherine tells Danny and sends him on his way.

H50 – H50 – H50

He hates this. He really does. Hate is such a strong word that he doesn't use it very often. But this… there is just no other word for how Steve feels about the situation. And there is something else he hates, okay, well, not really hate, but despises, and that is Danny's attitude about all of it. _That is not fair. I DON'T WANNA BE FAIR. SHUT UP!_ Steve feels that he has the right to be grumpy, angry, miserable, pissed and scared. So damn scared. He feels like crap, his head hurts so badly, his broken finger and breastbone are throbbing and his damn groin muscles are driving him up the wall. His upper leg hurts like crazy but he can't move a fucking muscle. He can't feel anything below the waist. He knows that everything works just fine. He could see that this morning, but he couldn't _feel_ it.

When Anny removed the foley earlier in the day and told him how they expect him to relieve himself in the future, he just snapped. He couldn't help himself and started crying. Anny was really understanding and tried to console him, but it was no use. Steve cried himself out, that's why Anny stayed so long and why he was so tired and had such a bad headache after she left.

He thinks back to Danny, how glad he was that he stayed with him. How safe he felt with Danny at his side. He knows that Danny would protect him with his life. That he would do the same for Danny. Or Grace, a small voice in the back of his mind says. But that doesn't change the fact that he is so mad at him right now. As hate is not the right word, mad isn't either. It's just that Steve can't accept that Danny is taking all this so lightly. He has it in his head that everything will be fine, and soon.

Steve knows that Danny only has good intentions, but it drives him mad that he's so happy-go-lucky about it. _That is just on the outside. You know he's dying a little every time he sees you unable to move._ That damn voice is getting pretty annoying.

"Steve?" Cath's soft voice interrupts his thoughts.

_Maybe I can pretend to be asleep a little longer? I really don't want to talk._ Steve doesn't react at all.

"Steve, I know you're awake. But it's okay, I can understand that you don't want to talk right now. How about you just listen to me instead? Danny told me that you were really upset after the nurse left. I think her name is Anny?" Cath looks at Steve hoping that he would answer her, but no such luck. "Danny said that your head hurt and that you weren't talking. Steve, I know you're really angry. And scared. I'm angry… and scared, too. Steve, I hate to see this happening to you. I just want you to know, whatever happens, I will be here. I'm not going anywhere. None of your friends will leave you. Even if the worst happens and you don't get full control over your body back." Cath can see that he is listening intently. "I have thought about this, and I know that there is the chance that this might be permanent. I'm not one to be as overly optimistic as Danny and Chin are. So if you want to talk about _that_, we can. I won't pretend that everything will be fine."

Steve was listening to his friend and when she said that they would all stick with him, no matter what, he couldn't help it. A few more tears were obviously still in him and wanted out.

Cath bends down and softly kisses the tears away. She looks down at Steve, with one hand stroking through his hair and the other gently rubbing circles over his cracked sternum. A sheepish smile greets her, when Steve finally decides to open his eyes.

"Sorry." Steve whispers, embarrassed about his emotional minute.

"Don't be. Don't you think I haven't shed tears? I'm all cried out. Steve, it is okay. You don't always have to be the strong one. Now, you want to tell me what had you so upset?"

"Not really." Steve doesn't think he can talk about what Anny told him.

"Okay. We don't have to. How is your head? Danny said you had a bad headache?"

"Where is Danny?" Steve chooses to ignore the question. What sense does it make to tell her that his head feels like someone is hitting it from the inside? The pain is nauseating, the light hurts his eyes and he feels slightly dizzy. Feels just like after he had ridden all the rollercoasters at Magic Mountain when he was nine.

"At HQ; meeting with Chin and Kono. He'll be back soon. Please don't ignore my question." Cath knows her man too well.

Steve tries to glare at her, but that only increases the pain in his head. "I have never had such a bad headache before. I feel really sick, my hand his throbbing, it hurts to breathe. And my groin and leg hurts so bad I could scream. But my ankle is just peachy since I can't feel it. Are you happy now?"

"No, I'm not happy. Why the hell didn't you say something? There is no reason for you to be in pain." Cath presses the call button to let a nurse know about the level of pain he's in.

"I don't want to be knocked into oblivion."

"They won't, Steve. They are not going to knock you out. But they can take the edge off. Please take something." Cath pleads with her friend.

"Okay, but no narcotics." The prospect of _some_ relief doesn't sound too bad to Steve right about now.

It takes only a few minutes for Anny to come by and after checking with Dr. Chaeng she injects some pain reliever into Steve's IV. "Steve, you should have told me that the effects from the last shot had worn off earlier than we thought. You were scheduled for your next injection in an hour. No need for you to suffer. Don't do that to yourself. If you're still in pain in a few minutes, please call me again."

"I will." Steve looks after her and muses that he never had such a nice nurse before.

"Steve?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you do me a favor?"

"If I can, sure. What do you need?"

"I don't need anything. I want you to trust me."

Steve looks at Cath and wonders where this is going. "I trust you. You know I do."

"Okay, then listen to me. When you were sleeping you moved your left leg. Just like normal."

Steve looks down at his leg, his completely unmoving leg. "Cath, I don't feel my leg. I can't feel anything. Well, except the pain in my right thigh."

"I know. Please just listen to me. Close your eyes." She watches him, looking at her like she's gone nuts. "Just close your eyes."

"Fine." Steve does as he is told.

"Now I want you to relax. Try not to think about anything."

"That's a little hard to do."

"I know you meditate, try to do that." Cath has grabbed his left hand and holds on to it, while she watches him using some of his relaxation techniques.

Steve listens to his own breathing, just in and out. His lower body is relaxed anyway, so he concentrates on his arms and upper body. After a few minutes he can feel the tension leaving him and being a lot more relaxed than he was ten minutes ago.

"Good, you're doing good, Steve." Cath softly speaks to him near his ear. "Now I want you to focus solely on your left leg. Don't try to move it. Just imagine your leg. When you have a clear picture of it, I want you to focus on changing the position of your leg. Do not think about moving it. Just imagine it lying in a different position." Cath looks down at the leg and has to smile when it moves into a different position.

"Cath, this is ridiculous, nothing is happening, I can't feel anything. What are you smiling at?"

"Look at your leg. You changed positions."

"But I can't feel anything. Cath, I can't feel my leg, how could I move it?"

"Dr. Chaeng said that everything is working fine. But the signals are not getting to your brain like they should. When you're not thinking about it, or in sleep, you move your legs unconsciously. Dr. Chaeng predicted that this would work, and he was right."

"You think I will be able to control it again? I mean it's not very useful to move just in sleep."

"I'm sure you will, Steve. Now I am sure." She smiles at him, convinced that he will walk out of here, just like Danny said all the time.

"You think this might work not just with the leg?"

"What do you mean?" Cath has no clue what he is talking about.

"The legs are not the only body part I have no control over." Steve knows that Anny will be back soon, and he has no desire whatsoever to learn a new thing to do with his body.

"Oh." Now she gets it. "I suppose you could try. It can't hurt."

Five minutes later Cath is back with the necessary equipment. "They looked at me kind of strangely when I ask about the urinal. Do you want me to leave?" Cath looks at Steve, who is blushing slightly, which she thinks is adorable. They have known each other for so many years now and have seen each other in every state of undress. But this is obviously still a little embarrassing for Steve.

"No. Just give me that damn thing." Since Steve is still just clad in a hospital gown and covered with a light blanket, it's no problem to get it in place himself. "Now what?"

"Just relax, like before. You feel the need to pee?" Cath finds this whole conversation kind of strange, but can understand Steve's need to get his body going before Anny wants him to catheterize himself. When Cath got the equipment, Anny told her that she will be by in a few minutes to show Steve how to do that.

"No, I don't feel anything." Steve lies back and just tries to relax. It only takes him two minutes to get it going. Steve can't remember ever feeling this relieved. In every sense of the word. He is smiling at Cath, who in return has the biggest smile on her face he ever saw. "Thank you, Cath."

"I'll get Anny. Be right back." She bends down and gives him a gentle kiss. "I'm so happy for you."

H50 – H50 – H50

"Chin, Kono." Danny calls out to his friends on entering Five-0 headquarters.

"Danny, any news on Steve?" Kono ask without preamble.

Danny puts his best smile on his face to give them the good news. He is just off the phone with Catherine who informed her of Steve accomplishments after he left. "Yes! Steve was able to move his left leg… and to relieve himself. Dr. Chang is with him right now doing some more tests. But this is really great news." Danny is beaming at his two teammates.

"Oh, Danny, this so great." Kono is almost crying again, this time for totally different reasons.

Chin only smiles, he had no doubt of the outcome.

"We can all go see him later. Okay, now, what did we get from the files? Did you get anything from the phone log?" Danny wants to put this case behind him and find Jinny, to have something to tell Catherine, who is very worried about her friend.

"We were just about to call you. I talked to a Mrs. Rogers. Lines talked to her numerous times. She is a real estate agent and handled the property across the street from Steve. She rented that house out to an Alan Bolten two months ago." Chin reads from his notes.

"Alan Bolten? Isn't that one of Mick, or Lines' aliases?"

"Yes it is, Danny."

"So, you're telling me he has been across the street for two months?"

"No, Mrs. Rogers said he only picked up the keys a week ago. He moved in the day he attacked Steve. Remember the moving van out front? That was him."

"HPD checked that out, and said everything was legit." Danny remembers talking to Duke about the van.

"It was legit. One of the officers even talked to Mick, I mean Carter Lines. There was nothing suspicious going on." Chin won't blame the HPD officer before he speaks with him personally.

"Okay, then let's go and check it out." Danny tells Chin and Kono.

Twenty minutes later they arrive at their destination, right across from Steve's home. Although it is very unlikely they will encounter any hostiles, they gear up.

"Why the hell didn't anybody report the moving van?" Danny looks at the van, still idly parked in front of the house. This is a huge oversee oversight by HPD. "Chin, take the back. Kono, you're with me." Danny leads the way up to the entrance.

The front door is unlocked and they enter carefully. The heat and the smell are the first things that hit them on entering. The house is dead quiet and they make their way through it, clearing one room after the other, before they start following the smell to the second floor. A few moments later they meet with Chin, who came through the garage.

"He didn't lock any doors." Chin tells them.

"Let's move upstairs. We need to get CSU in here, dusting for prints and maybe we can find some more evidence." Danny motions to the two suitcases standing next to the couch.

They move slowly up the small staircase and fan out to check the rooms on the upper floor. Not many rooms to check though, only a guest room and the master bedroom. That is where they find Jinny Parker.

"You think she was awake when he shot her?" Kono sadly asks.

"Probably not. I think he kept her sedated." Danny hopes that she didn't have to suffer. "Kono, call HPD and CSU."

"On it."

"We need to tell Catherine and notify Jinny's father."

"Danny, you think it was a coincidence that Lines chose her?" Chin doesn't really believe that.

"No, he chose her because of her connection to Cath and Steve. Her death was probably planned right from the beginning. The other three were collateral damage."

"Steve will blame himself for this."

"Yeah. I just hope that Cath doesn't blame him, too. It's not his fault." Danny thinks about how to best break the news to Catherine. "Let's take a look around until CSU arrives." They all think it's better to be occupied than to just wait.

It takes fifteen minutes for the teams to arrive and to take over the crime scene.

"Max, thanks for coming so quickly. The dead body is Jinny Parker, a good friend of Lt. Rollins," Danny tells the medical examiner.

"Steve's girlfriend?"

"Yes. She might want to come by later and see her. You don't need her for a positive ID?"

"If Ms. Parker's prints are in the system, I won't need her."

"Thanks, Max. Please send all your findings over to us as soon as possible." Danny is sure that Jinny Parker was killed by Lines, but they still need to back that up with evidence.

"Of course." Max leaves them to start with his work.

"Danny, you want to head over to the hospital?" Kono is not looking forward to telling Catherine about her dead friend.

"Yeah, we should tell Cath and of course we need to call her dad. Come on, let's go see Cath and Steve."

They meet with Duke on their way out and are on their way to the hospital a few minutes later.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny, Chin and Kono enter the hospital not half an hour after leaving the crime scene in the hands of CSU and HPD. They will probably get the first reports in the early evening. But now they are looking forward to seeing their injured friend again.

"We should swing by ICU and see how Lines is doing." Danny is still amazed that he survived the surgery.

They find their way to the nurse's station and ask to speak to the attending doctor.

"I'm sorry, Detective, Mr. Lines is no longer a patient here." One of the nurses informs them.

"What? He died? When?" Danny wonders why they had no information about that.

"No. No, he didn't die. He was transferred about an hour ago."

"He's in a private room now?"

"No, Sir. He was transferred to another hospital. He was picked up by some military personnel."

"Who authorized that?" Danny asks her angrily.

"I can show you the paperwork. It was ordered by…" she looks into her papers, "Admiral Dickens. And we have the authorization by District Attorney Myers."

Danny takes a look at the paperwork and reads that DA Myers indeed signed the papers, there is even a court order for the transfer. "Thank you."

Five-0 leaves rather frustrated.

"I don't get it, Danny. Why would they transfer him? And why did the DA okay that? Lines is responsible for at least a dozen murders we know of. Not to mention the attack on Steve, us and the HPD officers. What the heck is going on here?" Chin is, for the first time, losing his cool.

"I don't know, but we'll find out. Let's go and see Cath and Steve."

A few minutes later they enter Steve's hospital room, to find their friend lying on his bed, clad in sweat pants and a T-shirt, fast asleep.

"Catherine." Danny softly calls out upon entering.

"You don't have to whisper, he won't wake up. He's totally beat, he just had physical therapy." Cath puts her newspaper down and gets up to greet her friends.

"PT?" Danny looks at his sleeping friend while asking Catherine.

"Yeah, his legs need to be moved. His muscles would stiffen up too much without the therapy. I think it was pretty painful, at least on his right leg."

"Danny said Steve has control back?" Kono wants to know after hugging Catherine.

"Yes, kind of. He can move, but it's a struggle. Dr. Chaeng said he should be okay in a couple of days. But most importantly he can _feel_ his body again. It's not really obeying yet, but that will come in the next few days." Catherine smiles at Steve's three friends.

"That is wonderful news. He looks flushed, does he still have a fever?" Kono looks at her boss.

"Yeah, it's actually a little higher than a few hours ago. It's almost 102 again. They switched his antibiotics. Dr. Chaeng thinks he is reacting to the medication and hopes that he will tolerate the new one a little better."

Danny was watching Catherine during her conversation with Kono and debates waking Steve up, so that he can be there for her when he breaks the news about Jinny. But when he looks at Steve, seeing him so deeply asleep, obviously exhausted, his decision is clear.

"Catherine, we need to talk." Danny motions for her to sit in one of the chairs, and he takes the one across from her. "I'm really sorry, Cath, but we found Jinny. She is dead." Danny watches Cath, but can see that she has herself very well under control.

"How did she die?" Cath quietly asks.

"Lines shot her. Probably shortly before he attacked us."

"Where did you find her?"

That is the hardest part to tell, because she practically died under their noses. "Across from Steve's house. Lines rented the house two months ago."

"Why?"

"Why what? Why did he kill her?"

"Why did he choose Jinny? Why did he involve her?"

Here comes the hard part, Danny thinks. "We think that Lines' intention was to kidnap you and Steve. And that he wanted to use Jinny as leverage to make one of you talk."

"Steve would never give away any information. No matter what the torture might be." Cath knows that for a fact.

"I don't think he counted on Steve to give the information away." Danny looks at Cath and can see that it dawns on her what the plan really was.

"He wanted to torture Steve and Jinny to make me talk. But Danny, I don't have all the intel. Steve is the one with the knowledge. I was at the conference, but I was not privy to all of it."

"Lines didn't know that, Catherine. I'm really sorry for your loss. Steve told me that you were good friends."

"I can't believe she is dead," Cath chokes out, the news just now getting to her. "Did you call her dad?"

"No, not yet."

"This is all my fault."

"What? No. No, Cath, it's nobody's fault but Lines'." Danny can practically watch her shutting down. A moment later she jumps up and disappears into the bathroom, closing the door with a loud bang.

"What?" A confused and disoriented Steve calls out. "Danny? What's going on?" Steve looks around and pushes himself higher up in bed, cursing when he puts pressure on his broken finger in the process.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to wake you. Cath is, well, she is a bit…" Danny doesn't really know how to tell him.

"What happened?"

Danny sighed, but looked his friend in the eye, finally reporting, "We found Jinny's body."

"Shit. Help me up." Steve swings his right leg off the bed, grimacing in pain by the pull on the muscles his movement causes. He then uses his hand to get his left leg to move. "Danny, please help me up."

"What the fuck are you doing?" Danny is not making a move to help is friend who by now has managed to sit on the edge of the bed and has disconnected his IV like a pro. To the astonishment of both Chin and Kono.

"Chin, Danny, please help me up." Steve is pleading with his friends. He sits on the edge of the bed, barely able to keep upright, his head is screaming in protest about the upright position and the room is dangerously spinning around him. "Now!"

Both Chin and Danny sigh deeply, but take Steve's arms and help him off the bed. Placing his arms around their shoulders they are able to keep him standing, while he hangs his head. Obviously trying to get his bearings.

"Now what?" Everyone can hear that Danny is clearly irritated with his stubborn friend.

"Bathroom," Steve only pants out. His vision is a little gray at the edges right now.

They make the short trip to the closed door. Steve hasn't put his right foot down yet, but does so when he takes his arms off his friend's shoulders. He almost cries out, when he puts a little weight on his messed up ankle. He leans against the wall next to the door and tentatively knocks on it. "Cath? Please let me in."

To everyone's amazement the door opens and Steve slips in. A second later they can hear the telltale click of the lock.

"He can move." Kono whispers.

"Told you he will walk out of here." Chin tells his cousin.

"He shouldn't be out of bed." Danny looks in exasperation at his two friends. "He will only hurt himself even more."

"Catherine needs him right now. I'm sure he will be fine." Chin tries to placate Danny.

"A few hours ago he was paralyzed and now he's running around. He is nuts and it will not end well."

"Danny, I think you can hardly call that running around. We practically carried him. What the hell is the matter with you anyway? You should be happy that he's out of bed." Sometimes Chin just doesn't understand his second boss.

"I am, just not like this, you know? Sorry, guess I'm overreacting a little," Danny admits, looking at his friends and smiling at their shaking heads. "We should call Admiral Dickens, find out what is going on."

"I'll do that. Kono, can you call the DA's office, find out what they can tell us?" Chin is sure that Danny wants to stay with Steve and Cath.

"Sure, be back in a few." She leaves to make her call.

"Danny, I'll call Dickens and ask the attending doctor in what condition Lines was in." With that, he also leaves the hospital room.

It takes about ten minutes before the bathroom door opens and Catherine looks around the door for Danny.

"Danny, can you please give us a hand?"

"Sure. Cath, you okay?"

"For now. Thanks for asking." Cath moves out of the way and reveals what's behind the door.

Steve sits on the floor, with his back against the wall, legs outstretched and looking up at Danny rather pathetically. "Hey Danno, help me up please?"

"You only need a hand, or more?"

"More, I think," Steve has to admit.

"Okay. Can you help a little with your left leg?" Danny bends Steve's left leg and plants the foot on the floor. "I'll try to get you up, but you're too tall for me to do it alone, you need to help a bit. Can you do that?"

"Think so."

"Good. On three." Danny steps between Steve's legs and bends down to grab him under the arms. On three he pulls his freakishly tall partner up as best he can. Well tall is relative, but for a five foot five person, six foot one is really tall. So it's a rather comic sight, seeing Steve being hugged by his shorter partner.

But Steve doesn't care much about how they look at the moment, he has enough trouble standing upright, after Danny hauled him up rather quickly. That movement sent his head spinning and the headache into completely new dimensions.

"Hey, you with me? Steve, don't pass out!"

"I'm with you. Dizzy." Steve still leaning almost completely on his friend.

"Cath, can you take his left arm?" Danny repositions himself and throws Steve's right arm over his shoulder while Cath takes the left one.

They slowly make their way back to the bed, onto which Steve gratefully sinks. But he's not able to get his legs up again, he needs Danny to do that for him. "Thanks." Steve lays back totally spent, trying to get his rapid breathing back under control. He never thought that such a short distance could be that hard to walk. "Cath, you okay?" Steve looks up to his friend who is holding his hand like it's her lifeline.

"I will be. Thank you." Bending down she makes sure Steve understands how grateful she is for helping her over her emotional breakdown. Her sweet kiss is returned by Steve despite the fact that he is still slightly out of breath.

"Could you two please cut it out? Jeez, you're not alone here, you know!" Danny interrupts them.

Steve grins at his friend when he finally separates from Catherine. He still feels dizzy and nauseous and his heart feels like it is beating right out of his chest. It seems that his head still doesn't tolerate a vertical position just yet. Steve pushes the button to lower the headrest, which of course gets noticed by his friends.

"Steve, you okay? You need us to call a nurse?" Cath touches his still too warm forehead. "You're awfully warm."

"I don't feel so good, I'm dizzy. But I'm sure lying down will help." He stops the headrest when it's only slightly elevated and closes his eyes.

"I'll go and get the doctor." Danny says on his way to the door.

"No, Danny, I'll be fine."

"No, Steve, you're not. You're bleeding. The bandages on your ankle are bloody, you may have pulled some stitches."

_Well, that explains the pain._ Steve doesn't look down at his ankle, that would mean lifting his head, and he doubts he has the energy for that right now.

Five minutes later Danny is back with Dr. Wise in tow, who is less than happy with his patient.

"Didn't I tell you to keep that leg elevated at all times? What the hell were you doing out of bed anyway? I don't even want to know. Commander? McGarrett, can you hear me?"

Steve hears someone talking to him, but the voice sounds so far away that Steve's not even sure if he heard it or not. The room is still in motion and his head hurts like never before. There is a ringing in his ears and he feels incredibly warm. Not to mention the nausea that has gotten worse in the last few minutes. _Guess getting up wasn't such a good idea_. He feels being touched and prodded, a light pierces into his brain, but none of it really bothers him. He feels kind of detached from his body. And come to think of it, it's not such a bad feeling. Steve hears someone calling for a code blue or something like that, and there is a lot of activity around him.

Great, there goes another T-shirt. Someone is putting something sticky on his chest and a wailing sound starts right away. _Huh, I know that sound, that's not good. No, no, no, get that thing off my face. Oh, god, you've got to be kidding me, get off my chest. Argh, don't do that! It's already broken! Stop pushing down on my chest, you're killing me. Argh! Get those cold things off me, what the…?_ It's the last thought before he feels a huge hit going through his whole body and everything goes black.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>I hope you enjoyed this extra long chapter. <strong>_

_**Two more chapters to go. And you will get them both this week.**_


	22. Chapter 22 That's it?

**Chapter 22 – That's it?**

_Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Again that damn beeping? Come on, guys, cut it out._

_At least the mask is off. _

_Yeah, but the damn itchy canula is still up my nose. _

_Don't exaggerate like that, it's not UP your nose. _

_Shut up, what do you know? Who the hell are you anyway? _

Steve frowns when he doesn't get an answer, still not grasping the fact that the conversation is only in his head.

_Hello? You still there? Guess not._

Steve tries to relax and assess his condition. Maybe that will tell him what happened.

_Headache? Check, really bad one… Nauseous? Not so much... Dizzy? Nope… Hand? Throbbing, big time… Ankle? Don't even go there… Chest? Fuck… Who the hell trampled on my chest? And can someone PLEASE turn that damn noise off? Why is it so warm in here? Hello! Come on, give me some answers. What the hell happened?_

"Steve?"

"Hmm."

"Steve, come on open your eyes." Danny has been watching his friend for some time now, obviously struggling to come awake. Steve had become very animated the last couple of minutes; or at least his face had.

It takes another couple of minutes until Steve's eyes flutter open. Two glazed over eyes are looking at the blurry shape in front of him. "Danny?" _What the heck happened to my voice and my throat?_

"Here, take some ice-chips." Danny gives him a spoonful of the chips.

Steve savors the cool, soothing effect of the ice. "What happened?"

"You checked out on us." Danny tells him as he gives him another spoon of ice-chips.

"Huh?"

"You had a bad reaction to the new antibiotics. You're temperature rose at an alarming rate, you stopped breathing and your heart was beating so fast that they had to shock you. But you'll be fine."

"Chest hurts."

"Yeah, one of the docs did CPR on you, before they had the paddles ready. Your sternum is now officially broken."

"Great." Steve closes his eyes again. "Can you please turn the sound off, or at least down? My head hurts."

"The nurse will be here any minute. I'm sure she can turn the sound off." Danny looks down at his friend, who again landed in the ICU. "You know, Steven, you really need to stop this shit. You will drive us all into an early grave if you keep this up."

"Not my fault." Steve feels that he shouldn't be blamed for any of this. It's probably the first time that he's not going on a guilt trip. He doesn't feel responsible for any of the deaths, not even Jinny's. After all he was only doing his job. And he certainly doesn't feel guilty about his body having a bad reaction to some medication. _Why the heck is Danny blaming me?_

"Steve, you know I'm kidding, right?" Danny can clearly see the storm approaching and feels the need to clear something up, before Steve goes along a path that would be totally ridiculous.

"Are you?" Steve asks without opening his eyes.

"What are you talking about? You know I don't blame you for anything, no one is."

"You're always blaming me for something, Danny. You're always telling me what kind of shit I'm doing, how wrong my ways are. That I will get you all killed some day…" Somewhere along the way Steve lost his train of thought and has no idea what he wanted to say in the first place. He's so very tired and his head is not working straight. _Yeah, Danny's been telling you that for a long time._ Steve smiles at that and gives in to the pull sleep has on him. Maybe when he wakes up, this all will make more sense to him.

"Steve?" Danny shakes his head at his now sleeping friend. "Where the heck did that come from?"

"Detective Williams, the nurse just told me Commander McGarrett was awake?" Dr. Chaeng enters the ICU cubicle.

"Yeah, for a minute. He just went back to sleep. He said his head and chest hurt."

"I will up his pain medication when he wakes up again. Was he lucid?" Dr. Chaeng checks Steve's vitals as he talks to Danny.

"Mostly. I don't think he was fully awake." Danny still has no idea why his friend would think he would be blamed for any of what happened.

"Detective, you should head out, I'm sure he will sleep for another few hours. Which is actually the best thing he can do right now."

"You will call as soon as there is any change?" Danny doesn't really want to leave, but they have a meeting with the Governor in an hour and as the second in command and at the moment in charge, he should attend.

"Yes, we have your number. Don't worry, Commander McGarrrett will be fine. We're going to transfer him to a private room in a couple of hours. He is well on his way to recovery."

"You said that before and he ended up in the ICU," Danny can't help but point out.

"Yes, he did. But he is here because of the reaction to the medication, not because his injuries have worsened," Dr. Chaeng assures Danny.

"I don't know when one of us will be back. If he wakes up, please tell him that we'll be back as soon as we can. Dr. Chaeng, it's important that he knows we'll be back soon. Please tell him that."

"Don't worry, Detective. We will take good care of him." Dr. Chaeng leads Danny out of the ICU, leaving the feverish leader of Five-0 behind.

H50 – H50 – H50

Danny just makes it in time for the meeting. They have to wait a few minutes to be let into the conference room. He looks around and sees that Chin and Kono are looking alert and fresh, they obviously had a good night's sleep. Lori is nervously pacing and Danny asks himself why that is. Catherine stands at parade rest and Danny has to smile at the similarity to Steve while in uniform. She looks completely calm and collected even though her longtime school friend was killed and her boyfriend or whatever they are to each other is seriously injured in the ICU. He smiles back at her, when she becomes aware of him looking at her.

"The Governor is ready for you now. Will you please follow me?" His assistant leads them into the conference room.

They all take their seats after a short greeting to their 'boss'. Danny hates these meetings with politicians. Steve is so much better with that and Danny often wonders how he manages all this administrator stuff and still be able to be fully involved in every case. Probably lots of practice during his Navy time. Danny grins about the thought Steve sitting through meetings with high ranking Officers, itching to get out and shoot something.

"Detective Williams, before we start, how is Commander McGarrett?" Governor Denning asks the most important question. At least in Danny's eyes.

"He was awake for a few minutes about an hour ago. He still has a fever and is suffering the effect of a concussion, some broken bones and a nasty infection. But Dr. Chaeng assured me that he will be fine. The reaction to the medication he had yesterday won't have any long term consequences. If all goes well he could be out of the hospital in about two weeks."

"That seems a long time." Governor Denning wasn't aware of the severity of the injuries the head of his task force suffered.

"Well, Sir, he will need intensive physical therapy to get complete control over his legs back. And his concussion is severe, that alone will take some time. Besides the infection is serious and they are still struggling to control it. If he is lucky he will be out in two weeks, but back to duty will take even longer."

"That is okay, I don't want him to rush anything. He should take as much time as he needs. I'm sure you will be able to lead the team during his absence. I expect you to do a good job even though he will be missing for a while."

"Of course, Sir." Danny speaks for all of them. They would never disappoint Steve by letting anything slide.

"Very well then. Officer Weston informed me yesterday about the case. I must say, Detective Williams, I am disappointed." Denning looks at the team of four and can see that they have no idea what he is talking about. "Not in your work. Let me assure you that I'm very satisfied with your approach not just in this case but in general. That is NOT what I'm talking about."

"Sir, I don't understand." Danny has no idea what he means. What reason he would have to complain.

"The leader of my task force was kidnapped, almost killed. You involved the Navy, NCIS and Naval Intelligence and I don't even want to know who else. You schemed a trap with an injured officer in the middle of it. Without informing me about any of this. I had to learn that Commander McGarrett 'died' from my assistant yesterday. That is unacceptable." Denning didn't raise his voice but everyone can see how angry he is.

"Sir, you were on the mainland at a conference…" Danny tries to placate the Governor.

"Don't you think I'm more interested in learning about one of you getting injured in the line of duty than being undisturbed at a conference? Detective, you work for me, you are my responsibility. And I want to know if one of you gets kidnapped, or otherwise injured. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Sir. That will not happen again. I'm sure Commander McGarrett will keep you informed and if he should be the one injured, I will make sure that you will get the information first hand." Danny can understand that it was a mistake to keep the Governor out of the loop. But not even Steve thought about that. _Give him a break, he has a concussion and can't think straight if his life depended on it. Great, now I'm talking to myself._

"Good. Then let's not talk about it again. Officer Weston has already received her speech for this oversight."

It's clear that Lori was reprimanded for not informing the Governor about something that was going on with Five-0. A job she was explicitly hired for, and Denning obviously thinks she is not doing said job to his satisfaction.

"Sir, there was a development in the case that we didn't see coming. Carter Lines was transferred to a different hospital. And we can't even find out where he is."

"Officer Weston already told me about that. I talked to DA Myers, but he was not very forthcoming. It seems that he was under pressure from Homeland Security." Denning looks at Lori.

"I talked to my former superior. He was not willing to give me any details. He is hiding behind classified, but he said Carter Lines was a threat to National Security. You wave that word around and you get everything done."

"That man killed numerous civilians, and police officers, he is responsible for McGarrett's injuries. He attacked HPD and Five-0. But he won't get prosecuted for any of that?" Kono speaks up. It's her first 'conference' with the Governor and she's not quite sure if she is 'allowed' to speak. But Steve told her never to hold back with her opinion, so she's going with that.

"It looks like that, Officer Kalakaua. Lt. Rollins, can you tell us any more about what is going on with Carter Lines?" Denning looks at the Navy officer.

"Sir, I assume that Lines will either get exchanged for someone or something, or he will be brought in front of a military court."

"How will he be held responsible in a court martial? He's not in the armed services." Chin points out.

"That's simple. He will be declared a terrorist and therefore a threat to national security. He won't even get a trial, just a sentencing. But personally, I think they will exchange him."

"Lieutenant, can you tell us anything about what Commander McGarrett was working on in those meetings he attended?" Denning knows that Steve still works for NI as a reservist and often wonders how he managed to not let it interfere with his day job. So far it was working out well.

"No, Sir. I'm sorry, but everything Commander McGarrett is working on is classified. I don't even have the clearance to know all the details. He was allowed to give some information to Detective Williams. Danny?"

"Yes, Sir, he gave me a rundown of his investigation for NI. It was about a drug cartel, for lack of a better word, but I don't have any details on that. He was not at liberty to tell me much. I don't know how or where he gathered his information and I have no idea how Lines was involved. Or who he is working for. The information I do have doesn't help us at all."

"So, the bottom line is, we know that Lines is responsible for multiple killings but we won't be able to do anything about it?"

"Yes, Sir, that pretty much sums it up." Danny is rather pissed about that.

"Was Lines involved in McGarrett's first kidnapping?"

"Yes, Sir, in a way. He saved his life. George Barns overdosed him with a potent tranquilizer and without the counteracting medication which was administered by Lines, he would have died. We don't know much about the timeline of the kidnapping or the details. Steve can't remember much about it. His attending physician thinks that when his concussion clears he might be able to recall more of what happened. Until then we can't be sure when Lines was in the bunker. Or how Barns got Steve there in the first place."

"Jinny Parker was killed by Lines for what reason? Lt. Rollins, I'm very sorry for your loss. This can't be easy for you and I apologize for putting you through this."

"Thank you, Sir."

"We can't be sure why he killed her. We think that his clients wanted her dead. But as I said, we really don't know." Danny didn't quite understand why she was killed before Lines went after Steve.

"So, as far as we are concerned, this case is closed?" Denning wants to know.

"Yes, Sir. There is nothing we can do about Carter Lines. He is out of our jurisdiction. We can only hope that McGarrett fully recovers and move on."

"Well, Detective, it certainly was an interesting weekend. One that we hopefully won't see again soon. If you learn anything else, please inform me about it. And keep me informed about Commander McGarrett."

"Yes, Sir, of course."

After a short goodbye, the team of Five-0 and Catherine are on their way out of the Palace.

"Catherine, are you heading back to the hospital?" Danny looks at her.

"No, I can't. Mr. Parker's plane lands in about an hour, I'm going to pick him up from the airport, take him to the hotel and then we're going to see Jinny."

"Oh. I promised Rachel to take Grace tonight, I can't stay with Steve. Can one of you guys go to the hospital and stay with him?" Danny looks at his three teammates.

"We will swing by and go see him, but they won't let us stay for long. They only allow family members to stay longer." Kono was really mad when she was thrown out last night.

"They let me stay as long as I wanted." Danny tells them.

"You're his next of kin. Of course they let you stay. You and Catherine. But not his friends. I don't know why they are so strict. I mean he's in a private room, it's not like we're disturbing anybody." That was the argument Kono used last night, without any luck.

"Please just go see him. Maybe they will let you stay."

"We'll go, Danny. Don't worry. We'll tell him you'll come by in the morning. He may still be asleep anyway. You go and have fun with Grace." Chin sends his friend on his way.

"Okay. Call me if anything happens. Chaeng also has my number."

"Go, Danny. Nothing is going to happen." Kono shakes her head at him, hoping her words will be true.

Danny waves at them, gets into his car and is on his way to pick up his daughter from school.

"I'll come by later tonight. When I can leave Jinny's dad alone. I don't know when that will be. Can you tell Steve?"

"Sure, Cath. Go and take care of her dad. Maybe it will be good for both of you. Don't worry we'll take care of Steve." Chin assures her.

"Thank you. I'll see you later."

Chin, Kono and Lori watch her until she's out of the parking lot.

"Okay, let's go see our fearless leader." Chin leads the way to the van and a short time later they are also on their way.

H50 – H50 – H50

Finally some quiet, a huge improvement to the last time he woke up. It's also not as bright, for which he is eternally grateful. His headache is bad enough without the light piercing right into his skull and liquefying his brain cells. It's obviously night and his room is only illuminated by the dimmed light behind his bed.

Steve wonders what time, or even what day it is. Last he clearly remembers is… he's not even sure what he remembers clearly. It's all pretty scrambled and thinking about it makes his head hurt more. _Why is my head hurting so badly anyway?_ Something about an accident comes to mind. _When was that again?_

Steve moves into a more comfortable position and hisses in pain when he moves his leg. Now he really is awake and becomes aware of all the pains and aches of his body. First and foremost there is his head that is throbbing away with great intensity. Every breath hurts and when he moved it felt like a knife was rammed straight into his chest. His right hand is mildly hurting and taking a look reveals that his pinky- and ring fingers are taped and splinted.

His ankle is throbbing along with his heartbeat and even a slight movement sends daggers of pain through it. But the winners besides his head are clearly his groin and hip. His right side is hurting from head to toe so to speak. _My right side? Have I been on the passenger side of the car? Was someone with me? No, that doesn't feel right._

Steve gently touches his left temple where the worst pain is located. He can clearly feel a bruise, obviously where he connected with something. _Would be nice to know with what._

He remembers a lot of rain… and Danny yelling at him. And the ocean… and Danny yelling at him. _Something about getting thrown out of something for some… crap? What? That doesn't make sense at all._

What he does remember is going out with Chin, Kono and Lori to Joe's, having dinner and a great evening. _Where the heck was Danny? Oh, right, with his other friend's. The ones he doesn't want me to meet. No wait, we talked about that. When was that?_

The more Steve tries to think about everything, the more confused he gets, which only causes his head to hurt worse. He closes his eyes for a moment and tries to think about nothing. _Oh yeah, that is working just great. _

Lightly shaking his head, regretting the movement instantly, he takes some deep breaths, only to be reminded that is also not a good idea.

Steve starts to squirm a little in bed, but that is something his upper leg is not happy about at all.

All things considered, Steve is not a happy camper right now. He is thirsty, he is hurting all over, he can't remember a damn thing and he needs to pee. And the damn call button is nowhere to be found. _Just great._

H50 – H50 – H50

Nurse Doris Roberts holds the cup for Steve to drink some water with the straw she brought for him. She fondly looks down at the man that reminds her so much of her youngest son. Checking on all her sleeping patients while she was making her rounds, she was quite surprised that her newest patient was rather wide awake and in desperate need of some assistance.

"I'm really sorry we put the call button out of your reach." Doris takes the empty cup back and makes sure that the button is now in easy reach.

"That's okay, you came in time."

"You're due for your pain medication. That should help you back to sleep," she tells him as she injects the drug into the IV.

"How long have I been here?" Steve looks up at her but can already feel that he won't be awake for much longer. The drugs already having a strong pull on his consciousness.

"On this station just two hours, but you have been in the hospital for a few days."

"Days?"

"Don't worry that you're a little fuzzy, you'll remember it all better in the morning. Go to sleep, don't fight the drugs." Nurse Roberts makes sure that he is covered with the blanket and resting comfortably. She watches a moment longer, but it's clear that her patient is back to sleep. She dims the light a bit more and leaves him to his rest.

H50 – H50 – H50

Steve awakes to sunlight shining into his room making him squint against the glare. He turns his head away from the intruding light with a soft groan and comes face to face with Danny, who is sitting on one of those uncomfortable chairs right next to his bed.

"Good morning." Danny greets his friend happily.

"Ugh."

"Well, not the reply I was hoping for, but I guess it has to do. How are you feeling, Steve?"

Steve contemplates whether to answer that or just try and go back to sleep. He settles on something in between, and closes his eyes, "not so good."

"Are you in pain? Should I call the nurse?"

"My head hurts, the rest is just aching. Kind of. Danny, what happened?" Steve opens his eyes again and looks at his friend.

"You remember being kidnapped?"

"By George. He is dead, isn't he?"

"Yeah. You remember leaving the hospital?"

"No, not really. I don't know… I was in the rain… no that was before. I was in the water. You were yelling… you wanted to throw me out of something? I don't know, Danny."

"Okay, calm down, and I'll tell you what has happened in the last few days. I'm sure it will jog your memory."

"Can I have some water first? And I need to… you know?"

Danny chides himself, not having thought about something like that, after all his friend just woke up after a full night's sleep.

"I'll get the nurse to help you freshen up and all. We'll talk after that, be right back." Danny leaves in search of the nurse.

Twenty minutes later Danny reenters Steve's hospital room after the nurse told him the coast was clear. He finds his friend in a slightly more elevated position on the bed. Again clad in sweat pants and a T-shirt. Hopefully one that doesn't need to be cut off.

"Hey, you're looking much better. You feel okay?" Danny retakes his seat next to the bed.

"My head still hurts and I'm a bit dizzy, sitting up like this." Steve thinks it's ridiculous to get dizzy by the slightly elevated position he's in. It's not sitting up by a long shot. But when the headrest was raised he thought he'd throw up and the room was spinning like crazy. The nurse lowered him back to a more tolerable position. He would prefer to lie down even more, but she said something about getting his circulation going.

"I'm sure you'll get used to it soon. You really had us worried, Steve."

"Sorry?" He has no idea what he's done to have his friend worried.

"Not your fault. Okay, let me tell you what happened." Danny smiles at his partner and starts his tale.

Half an hour later he is done and looks at Steve.

"I was paralyzed?" Steve worriedly moves his left leg, which is working fine. His right one hurts too much to even try to lift it.

"It was not because of a spinal injury. Everything is fine. Don't worry about it." Danny tries to calm his friend down, who understandably is rather upset about all the crap that has happened to him.

"I really drowned? And you got me out of the drink?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you, Danny. For saving my life."

"It wasn't just me. Chin was there and the EMTs got you back. I'm just glad you're okay; for a while we didn't know how much damage that brain of yours suffered. You kept us guessing for quite some time. That was really not very nice, my friend."

"I know what you told me happened, somehow I remember most of it, but it's all kind of fuzzy and not in the right order. It's kind of messed up. Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"How is Cath doing? Jinny was a really good friend of hers." Steve is worried about his friend.

"I think she's okay. I don't know what you told her in the bathroom, but afterwards she was better."

"I don't even remember being in the bathroom. But I'm glad I could help her. Normally it's the other way round." Steve can't even remember how often she has been the one consoling him.

"You are really good friends, aren't you?"

"Yeah, we are."

"Can I ask you something very personal?"

"Sure."

"Are you two just friends with benefits, or is there more?" Danny doesn't know what to think of their relationship. He's never seen Steve show any interest in any other women, or men. Hey, he's an open minded guy. But to call Cath a girlfriend would be kind of strange, the amount of time they see each other really is not very much. So, yeah, he wondered.

"It's complicated, Danny. I love her, but I don't think I'm ready for a relationship like she or anyone else deserves. Too much is still going on in my life. I know Cath loves me, but she is still very much into her career. At the moment this is all we're able to have or give. And for now that's okay. But if I ever settle down, it would be with her. And I'm pretty sure she feels the same"

"Wow, that's an honest answer. You thought about that."

"Of course I did. Cath and I have talked about this. You can't go into a relationship of any kind without talking with your partner. Danny, I might be not very talkative, but I'm not as emotionally stunted as you like to think." Steve grins at his partner, who really has no idea about this other side of Steve, the one he knows how to hide from most everyone.

"Well, I believe you." Danny smiles at his friend, happy to see him back in his own head which was a lot more unscrambled than a few days ago. Or even just yesterday. "You know, if everything goes as planned and you don't develop any new fevers or other complications, you will be out of here next week."

"Next week?"

"Yeah, your doctor said, he won't allow you to get up for a few more days. Steve your ankle almost killed you. You know that, right?"

"What do you mean, almost killed me?"

"The infection was not responding to the antibiotics and that is what almost killed you, my friend. You will keep that IV for a few more days." Danny motions to the IV stand with the saline and the smaller antibiotics bag on it. "Besides, you can't get up anyway, your head won't allow that."

"You're right about that. I'm still dizzy. Danny, can you lower the headrest a little more? She put the remote somewhere behind me."

Danny lowers the headrest and puts the remote for the controls of the bed in easy reach, next to the call button.

"Danny, did any of you inform the Governor?"

"Ah, well, we kind of forgot that."

"Oh, he will be pissed. I'll talk to him, just not now." Steve settles a little more down on his bed and thinks that a little more sleep wouldn't be such a bad idea.

"It's okay, don't worry, we already had a talk with him." Danny tells him.

"Bet that was fun."

"Was not too bad. Listen, you just go back to sleep and don't worry about anything else but getting out of here. Let us worry about the Governor and the criminals of Hawaii for a while."

"Okay."

And Steve did just that. For the next ten days he did nothing but sleep, and talk with his friends about any kind of non-work related stuff. He did his physical therapy and listened to his doctors and nurses. He was a model patient all around. So much so that his friends were waiting for any suspicious activity, but he never tried to get out of the hospital or even leave his bed before he was allowed to do so.

Two weeks after being admitted to the hospital the first time, he was released and had every intention of not coming back any time soon.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><em><strong>We're almost at an end. Tomorrow I'm going to post the last chapter. You will finally learn what happened to little Stevie. Nope, I didn't forget about that. :-)<strong>_

_**Looking forward to hear from you.**_


	23. Chapter 23 Little Boy Hell Week

_**Here it is the last chapter of 'Mistaken'. I hope you enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. This story developed such a dynamic and went ways I never anticipated, but I must say it was a fun ride.**_

_**Thank you all for your support, your reviews, alerts and private messages. Some of you have pm disabled, so I couldn't thank you personally. But please know that I treasure every single review. I always love to listen to your questions and suggestion. Thank you!**_

_**A heartfelt thank you to my two beta readers, who are much more than that, **_**Cokie316**_** and **_**Sherry57**_**. You are so great. You changed writing into a totally new experience. It's a great pleasure working with you.**_

_**Now enough of that stuff and on with the story. I truly hope that you will be satisfied with this ending. If you are and also if you're not, let me know. I really love to hear from you.**_

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><p><strong>Chapter 23 – Little Boy Hell Week<strong>

Danny looks out the kitchen window, seeing all his friends there, his _real_ friends. Not former colleagues from way back, but his new family, Ohana, like they call it here. He can't quite fathom that it was just two weeks ago that they almost lost an important part of that family. The part that brought them all together. The part that made life in Hawaii so much better. The part that doesn't make him feel so alone anymore. The part that became his best friend.

It was just this morning that Steve was released from the hospital for the second time in less than two weeks. Danny watches his friend limping back to his chair after playing with Gracie down at the beach. Building a sand castle as he obviously promised her. He's only wearing boardies and a t-shirt, and of course the special boot for his right ankle. They would have cast the leg for a couple of weeks, but the wound needs to be cleaned and bandaged twice a day. So, no cast for Steve, but a stiff boot to help stabilize the bone while it heals. At least he doesn't need the crutches anymore. Danny shudders at the thought that his best friend very nearly ended up in a wheelchair.

"Danny! What's taking you so long?" Chin shouts from the lanai.

"I'm coming. Jeez, hold your horses. Give me a hand here," Danny carries an open cooler with beers and soft drinks in one hand and a container of ice cream in the other. "Gracie, go wash your hands if you want some ice cream. Steve, you want water or juice?"

"I want a beer, but I'll take water. Thank you." Steve takes the offered water bottle from his friend. He can't have any alcohol for another three days, as long as he's on antibiotics.

"Steve, we should clean and bandage the wound before you settle down. Playing in the sand is not exactly the cleanest environment." Malia offers her help caring for the wound.

"Yeah, okay." Steve struggles a little to get back up after just sitting down but manages it on his own and hobbles into the downstairs bathroom, Malia and her supplies hot on his heels.

"So, how is your head, Steve?" Malia asks him after he settled on the closed toilet seat.

"Only hurts a little, it's kind of a constant mild throbbing. But I don't get dizzy anymore and haven't been sick in a few days," Steve tells Malia while watching her opening the fasteners on the boot and carefully removing it.

"That's good. I know a concussion is very annoying and lying in bed is really not your thing. But Steve, you should still take it easy for another week or so. You were very lucky not to get more injured in that fight. That could have had a very different outcome."

"I know. I'll take it easy, I promise." Remebering his time in the hospital, being paralyzed is not a happy thought.

"Okay, this looks dry. Keep it that way, no swimming until the wound is completely closed. Let's see how it looks under the bandage." Malia cuts through the thick gauze and takes it off, revealing a half healed deep wound around the leg, just above the ankle. "Steve, this looks really good. Only this tiny part is not closed yet. It's still oozing a little. It's amazing how fast you're healing. But I bet it still hurts pretty badly."

Steve looks down at the injury with interest, "only when I put weight on it. I think I'm going to use the crutches for the rest of the day."

Malia finishes her work quickly and efficiently, has the ankle wrapped and back in the boot in minutes. "You're good to go. If you like, I could come by tomorrow morning and change it again."

"That's really nice of you, thank you, but it's okay, I can do it."

"You sure? It's no problem." Malia puts her stuff back into the bag from the hospital and disposes of the soiled bandages.

"Yeah, I'm sure." The technical part of caring for the wound is no problem for Steve at all, with his SEAL medical training. It was the concussion that prevented him from bending down the last few days. But his head is a lot better and he's sure to be able to fend for himself again.

"Okay. If you have any trouble, please call me." Malia smiles at him and hopes that he will call if he has any problems. _Probably not_. Shaking her head slightly she leaves him alone to tend to some business.

Steve watches his friend's wife as she leaves. She had checked on him every day while he was in the hospital. His whole team came by every day, it got to the point that he actually threw them out. One of them was always with him, and after a while it had gotten to be a little too much. It took some persuading, but finally they granted him a few hours alone-time.

After finishing up in the bathroom he rummages around in the hall closet and gets the crutches out he put in there just this morning. His doctor told him it's okay to walk without them, but after a few hours on his feet, his leg hurts and he needs to take the weight off it.

It's not just his injured ankle, but the pulled muscles in his leg are giving him even more trouble than his ankle. Thankfully his elbow is completely healed and using the crutches is no problem at all. He easily makes his way across the study out to the lanai where his friends are waiting for him.

Steve has to smile when he sees that his chair is already 'prepared' for him. A second chair with a soft pillow waits for his leg to be placed on it. Obviously Malia's had a word with his friends.

"Thanks." Steve places his crutches on the ground after he lowers himself into the comfy chair and lets Gracie push the second chair under his elevated leg.

"Uncle Steve would you like some ice cream? It's chocolate." Grace looks at him daring him to say no to her offer.

"Yes, thank you Gracie. Ice cream would be nice." He grins at her and watches her scooping a huge serving into a bowl. "Ah, Gracie, I think you need to help me with that," Steve looks at the mountain of dessert, feeling slightly nauseous thinking about eating all of it.

"I can do that." She takes her spoon and digs right in, much to the amusement of the grown-ups .

"So, Steve."

"Danny," Steve mumbles through a mouthful of chocolate ice cream. He has no idea what's on his friend's mind.

"I'm still waiting. And I must say very patiently. But patience is running a little thin by now."

That actually makes Steve look up , a bit startled. He has no idea what Danny is talking about. "What?"

"I think I endured your twisted kind of humor and teasing at the hospital really well. Do you have any idea how many 'offers' and looks I got from the male population of the hospital staff ?"

Steve grins at him and puts another spoon of dessert in his mouth. "Nope, should I be jealous?"

"You're just hilarious, Steven. And you guys," Danny's looking at the four women and Chin, "better not be laughing."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Cath says with a straight face while taking the bowl from Steve after he and Grace had polished off the ice cream. She can't quite resist the chocolate covered lips of her friend and steals a kiss.

"Hey, you two. Children present."

"Danno! I'm not a baby. I know what boys and girls do when they love each other. I'm almost ten, Daddy." Gracie sounds almost outraged.

"What boys and… what boys and girls do when they love each other? Where did you learn that?"

Danny can't believe that his sweet little Monkey just rolled her eyes at him.

"You still haven't told me what you're waiting for," Steve feels the need to chime in and 'save' Grace.

"Right. I'm still waiting for the story of your little-boy-hell-week."

"Oh."

"Yeah, 'Oh'. So give!"

"Okay, fine. Do you know what this is about?" Steve looks at his friends, who are shaking their heads. "When I was taken to the hospital, they did some x-rays and saw that I had very old injuries. I had a lot of broken bones from when I was young. And that, well, it made their conclusion how I received those injuries a lot easier." Steve doesn't want to scare Grace, so he's keeping it a little cryptic, but knows that his friends know what he's talking about. "Danny asked me how I got those broken bones."

"Yeah, and he told me a really funny story about blowing his mother's kitchen up."

"I didn't blow anything up, well, okay a little bottle, but not the kitchen. My mom was totally exaggerating."

"I'm sure she was. But that was not how he got injured."

"No, it wasn't. I was grounded for a week for experimenting with 'explosives'," he uses air quotes, "and for taking a book out of my dad's study without permission."

"How old were you?" Cath hasn't heard a lot of stories from his childhood, even though she has known him for quite a long time.

"I had just turned five three months earlier."

"So you got into trouble and were grounded?" Kono looks at her boss and tries to imagine him as a little boy.

"It was a long week. I wasn't allowed to go swimming or visit my friend across the street. And I had to be nice to my baby sister, who started crying every time she saw me." Steve has to smile at the memory of him driving his mother nuts. "I would go to her bed and look in, and as soon as she saw me the wailing started. It was kind of fun actually; I could make her scream without doing anything."

"I bet your mom was thrilled when you made your sister scream." Danny looks at his friend.

"Oh, yeah."

"So, what did you do during your week?" Chin looks at his boss, who he has known for so many years now.

_**McGarrett Home, 1982**_

_Stevie looks at the picture in the Aeronautics book and tries to understand what the text says. One thing he already figured out, his dad had taken out the small book that is normally in the pouch at the end of the big book. Stevie knows it contains all the information he needs to be successful in his endeavor. He needs that little book. And he already knows where it is. _

_It's on the top shelf of the bookcase in his dad's study. Without that book he can't figure out what he will need to do his experiment safely. _

"_Stevie! Come down please." His mother calls him from downstairs._

"_What now?" he grumbles, but he scrambles off his bed and storms down the stairs._

"_No running in the house. Can't you walk down the stairs?" His mom is shaking her head, she can't even guess how often she has told her son. Ever since he began walking, it seems that he's been on the run. That kid has way too much energy. "We need to go to the grocery store, we're out of formula, so put some shoes on." Another thing her son thinks you don't need in Hawaii: shoes. _

"_But mom, I'm grounded, I'm not allowed to leave the house." He looks at her pleadingly. He can't suspend his project right now._

"_We need to do some shopping and I can't leave you here. So, you have to come. Now put some shoes on… and not your hiking boots."_

"_Mom!" Little Stevie can whine with the best of them and his puppy dog eyes are even better, __"Mary will cry the whole time if I go with you. I'm not a baby anymore, mom. I can stay home alone."_

"_I can't let you stay here alone, Stevie."_

"_I'll stay in my room and read… nothing else. Please, mom?" _

"_You will not go into the kitchen, or the garage? You will not use a knife, scissors, or matches? You will not open the door for anyone and you will not go out to the water! Can you promise me that?"_

"_Yes, mom. No kitchen, no garage, no playing with knives or fire. No beach, no opening the door. I promise. Please mom, can I stay?" Stevie puts on his best pleading look. _

_Doris McGarrett looks down at her son. She knows that he never breaks a promise and that he's a very clever and reliable person, but he's just five. And she doesn't feel good about leaving him alone in the house even for twenty minutes. On the other hand, he's right, Mary will scream the entire time if he's next to her. "Tell you what, I'll call your dad and tell him you're alone at home and he's to call you in ten minutes for a check in."_

"_Okay. Then I'll stay in the living room by the phone."_

"_You do that. Stevie, please promise me you won't do anything stupid." She looks down at her son and hopes she won't regret this. _

"_I promise, mom."_

"_Okay, let me give your dad a call. Go get your book."_

_When Stevie comes back down, of course again in a run, she is ready to go. "I'll be back really soon, and your dad will call you in ten minutes. Lock the door behind me."_

_His mom is not even out the driveway when Stevie looks at the problem in his dad's study. As predicted, the little red book is on the top shelf. Way out of his reach. He could pull the couch table over and put a chair on it, well maybe two chairs. Or… Stevie looks at the shelf, which is really high up under the ceiling and grins. _

_Stevie puts his bare foot on the first shelf and grabs the highest shelf he can reach. It's easy to climb up to the second, and even higher row without a problem. A few moments later he's at the top and grins in triumph, grabs the desired book, puts it in the back of his shorts. He's ready to climb down when the phone rings. It startles him, he loses his grip on the shelf and, screaming, falls down from the top._

"Oh, my god, your mom must have had a heart attack when she found you." Cath looks around and sees that everyone has a mix of amusement and horror on their faces.

"What?" Steve looks around and grins, "nope, I was fine. You wanna hear the end of it or what?"

"Please, Steven, continue." Danny motions for his friends to shut up.

_Stevie looks up at the huge bookshelf and tries to breathe. He landed flat on his back and all the air was pressed out of his lungs with a loud whooshing-sound. The phone is still ringing and if he doesn't answer it with the next ring, his dad will probably come by with sirens and lights on. Stevie turns and crawls as fast as he can to the phone._

"_Daddy!"_

"_Stevie, what took you so long?"_

"_Ehm, I was just…"_

"_Everything alright, son?"_

"_Fine, Daddy."_

"_You sound out of breath. What are you doing?"_

"_Ehm, I was in the bathroom?"_

"_Is that a question?" _

"_Ehm, no."_

"_Are you hurt, Stevie?"_

"_No. I'm fine, Dad."_

"_Okay, good. Listen, Steve, please tell your mom that I will be home at seven. And that I will bring pizza. Don't forget that."_

"_Home at seven, okay, Dad."_

"_And pizza, I'll bring pizza… Stevie, I'll call her. You be a good boy. Okay, gotta go."_

"_Bye Dad."_

_Stevie gets up from the floor where he is still kneeling, and takes the book out. The small book left an imprint on his backside and he tries to take a look but only manages to turn in a circle and sees nothing. He is way too excited to think any more about his sore back. He takes his new possession to his room and is back on the couch, reading, when his mom walks into the door. _

_For the rest of the day, little Stevie is not running around, but walking at a rather slow pace. It will be hours later before his mom finds out the reason for it._

_Doris McGarrett gets woken up by her son standing in front of her bed in the middle of the night. He's in his pj's, teddy bear in his arms and softly crying._

"_Stevie?"_

"_Mommy, my back hurts."_

"So, you did hurt yourself?" Danny interrupts.

"I fell onto the book. The edge caused a bruise on the small of my back. It started hurting really bad later that night and woke me up. So I took Bunny and went to my mom."

"Your teddy's name was Bunny?" Danny is grinning at his friend.

"Yeah! Why?"

"Just saying. It's more like a name for a… well, a bunny?"

"It was a cool teddy. I think I still have him somewhere."

"I can just imagine, giant five-year old Stevie standing in front of his parents' bed with his teddy in his arms." Danny smiles softly at Steve, glad that he is willing to share such a story with his friends.

"I was really small."

"What?"

"I was a very small five-year old. I was just a little over three feet. Everyone thought I was still a toddler. When I started school after the summer, I was the smallest, almost a head shorter than the rest of the class. But that changed the next summer, when I started to really grow."

"You were just as short as Danno, Uncle Steve?"

"Well, maybe not as short as your dad… hey, no hitting the wounded," Steve rubs his arm where Danny playfully hits him.

"Guys, please. Steve, please go on. How did you get hurt?" Cath wants to know the rest of the story.

_John McGarrett carries his sleeping son up to his room after they came home from the emergency room. Thankfully nothing but a bruise was diagnosed, he was given a shot for the pain and his parents were told to treat the bruise with ice._

"_John, how is he?" Doris had stayed home with their baby girl. She's looking at her boy in his dad's arms. _

"_He is fine. I'm just gonna lay him down and I'll tell you in a minute." John lays Stevie on his belly in his bed and gently covers him with the blanket and tucks the bear next to his sleeping kid._

"_What did the doctor say?"_

"_It's just a bad bruise. It took a lot of prodding and nudging for him to finally tell what happened. The doc started to look funny at me. Thank god Steve told him what he did. Doris, I don't know what to do with him. His curiosity will kill him one day, I just know it. He climbed onto the bookshelf in the study and fell from the top. He could have broken his neck. I knew when I called him that something was wrong. I bet you it had just happened then."_

"_His spine is not injured?"_

"_No, he is absolutely fine. He was in so much pain, because he didn't say anything to us before. If we had known, we could have iced it for hours and it would be much less painful now. They gave him a shot for pain. The Doc said he will sleep for at least twelve hours. I guarantee you he'll be awake way sooner."_

"_Does he need to stay in bed?"_

"_No, if he feels up to it he can do whatever he likes. The doc's words, not mine. Come on, let's go back to bed. Couple hours and I have to be at work."_

_H50 – H50 – H50_

_John McGarrett was wrong about one thing, his son didn't wake up in the early morning hours. He slept for over fourteen hours. Doris McGarrett hadn't had such a quiet day since Steve was born. The house was quiet but she couldn't find any peace. Every half hour she checked on her sleeping son. Watching him sleep. Looking like a little angel. _

_And then the most amazing thing happened, her little angel opened his eyes and was like his old self again. Even though his parents had felt the need to rush their son to the emergency room in the middle of the night because he was in such bad pain, sleeping away half a day was obviously all Stevie needed. _

_Doris is preparing another bottle for her baby girl when Stevie comes down the stairs, maybe a little slower than usual, but still more running than walking._

"_Mommy, there was a bag of peas on my bed." Stevie holds up the bag of former frozen vegetables in his small hand and looks at his mom with big eyes._

"_Well, Sweetpea," she smiles down at her son, who is still holding the soggy bag, "we needed them last night for your back. Come here, Sweetie, let me take a look."_

_The bruise on Stevie's back is now a deep purple but he assures her that it doesn't hurt at all. After telling him that his dad will have a talk with him tonight, she sits him down and makes him something to eat, since he missed breakfast and lunch._

"_Can I have ice-cream, it would cool my back from the inside?" Stevie figured it couldn't hurt to ask, since his mom put vegetables on his back, he could put ice cream from inside on his bruise._

_Since his mother couldn't argue with that childlike logic, and the fact that he looked so adorable, he had a huge bowl of ice cream after his burger. There are some perks to falling off a bookshelf. _

"Uncle Steve, you can't cool a bruise from the inside. The ice cream melts and is not cold anymore." Gracie is shaking her head at him.

"Well, that may be so, but it tasted really good."

"So, your dad had a talk with you about your acrobatics?" Danny wants to know.

"No. He never came home that night because he was working on some surveillance. When he came home in the morning, he was really tired. Since he needed to sleep I couldn't play in the house. So the beach ban was lifted for the day and I spent the day outside. Well mostly in the garage, working on my project."

"Your project?"

"_Stevie!" His mom comes into the garage looking for him._

"_Yes, mom?"_

"_What are you doing here? Dad doesn't like you to be here alone."_

"_I'm cleaning his tools. See?" He holds up some wrenches, not telling her, of course, that he needs them for a totally different purpose than cleaning them._

"_Okay. Now get done with that, dinner is ready. Get washed up."_

"_Okay, I'll put everything back." _

"_You do that." She looks at her son, barely able to see his head behind the bench, shakes her head and leaves him to his chores._

_Stevie looks after his mother and then back to his gathered stuff. Tonight he will start his first experiment._

"_Stevie!"_

"_Coming, mom."_

_H50 – H50 – H50_

_Stevie is concentrating on his work. He cut a towel in half to make it a square, then he knotted the eight lines to the towel, very carefully to place them as directed by the book. After that, he knotted the wrench to the end of the lines. Now his model-parachute is ready for its first test. He followed the description in the book to the letter, and is sure that his parachute will work. _

_Of course he needs a lot more towels to make another one, because he is a lot heavier than the wrench. So he needs lots more cloth. But first he needs to test the model. After checking to see that his mom and dad are still in the living room, he moves silently into his parent's bedroom and out onto the balcony. _

_It takes another minute of preparation, but then he's ready to drop his first experimental parachute. The model is perfect in every aspect of ratio and weight. He lets it drop and a perfectly shaped parachute opens and the wrench lands on the ground with a soft thud._

"_Huh." Stevie looks down to the ground. "This is not high enough."_

"Oh my god, please tell me you didn't jump off the roof, Steven." Danny practically screams at his partner.

Steve only smirks at him

_For the next two days little Stevie is suspiciously quiet. His mother even checked if he might have a fever and she asked him repeatedly if he was in pain from his fall. Which he denied._

_In fact he was really busy making his parachute, and not a model one, but one that could carry him. He'd procured two sheets out of his mom's closet and was sewing them together. Something he didn't have a great talent for. His finger were a witness to that. But after two days, his work is finally done. Tonight he will try his parachute. He only needs to figure out how to get to the roof without being detected. _

_He had already taken the gear from the garage. His dad had bought him his first climbing gear and he will use that to get safely attached to his parachute. For the first time he thinks it's really cool to be so small. All his friends are taller and heavier than he is. He's sure this wouldn't work for them._

_A few minutes past midnight, he climbs the ladder to the attic and from there up to the roof. It's not easy getting all his stuff up there, but he manages. It's almost a full moon and a warm night. He carefully makes his way to the top of the roof. The highest point, he needs the height for the chute to open. He should actually be a little bit higher, but he intends to throw the sheets up into the air, so they have a moment more to expand._

_He looks down and thinks for the first time that it is a lot higher than the balcony. Instead of preparing to jump he sits down on the rooftop, suddenly scared to jump off. It didn't seem to be so high from below. Stevie crawls to the edge and looks down and feels suddenly dizzy and a little sick. He closes his eyes and lies still, hugging the roof. He lies on the crest with his arms and legs to the left and right of it. He can't even get up to get back down. Everything is spinning around him and he is sure he's going to fall off._

_He starts to cry and calls his dad. Who he knows is asleep and will not hear him. He is sure to never get off the roof again which only makes him cry harder. Until he hears a voice._

"_Stevie, don't move." His dad is on the roof and a moment later hugs him to his chest with Stevie's arms tightly around his neck._

"_Daddy, I'm sick."_

"_It's okay, we'll be down in a minute."_

_And they are. Little Stevie is shaking and not letting go of his dad and…_

"You didn't jump!" Again Danny is interrupting.

Which causes a 'Danny!' by six people. "Stop interrupting."

"No, I didn't jump. When I looked down I suddenly got really, really sick and dizzy. I got so scared that I started shaking, I couldn't stand and if my dad hadn't come up I would have spent the night there. I don't really know why that happened, but I went into shock and was totally out of it. Maybe it was still left over from the fall. My mom had asked me a hundred times in the last two days if I was in pain. I told her 'no' every time, but it really hurt. I don't know, but whatever it was, I didn't jump off the roof. Actually it was right up here." Steve points to the roof directly above them. "The next morning, dad and I went back up there to get my gear. Dad carried a bag up, and he threw it off the roof with my chute attached to it."

"And?" Danny looks at his friend.

"Let's just say, it's a good thing I didn't jump." Steve grins back

"So how the hell did you get hurt?" Danny had been waiting for that long enough now. "What other kind of idiotic plan did you come up with?"

"My best friend lived across the street and I wasn't allowed to see him all week because I was grounded. On Sunday that was lifted, I guess my parents thought keeping me in the house any longer would be too dangerous." Steve smiles at the memory of not getting grounded into the next millennium for his roof stunt, instead only getting the lecture of his lifetime. "And after breakfast he came over to play on the beach. After a couple of hours we got bored and started playing in the driveway. My dad was washing the car and mom was doing some gardening. Jeff and I were playing ball. I had gotten a football for my birthday and we were throwing that around. Jeff threw the ball and it was flying really far and I ran after it. I don't remember anything after that. I ran onto the street right in front of a car and was hit full force. Right under my parents' noses."

"Uncle Steve, were you hurt badly?"

"Very, Gracie. I had lots of broken bones and internal injuries. But that wasn't the worst. I hit my head really hard and had a traumatic brain injury. I was in a coma for over three weeks and the doctors told my parents that I wouldn't wake up again. And even if I did that I wouldn't be myself anymore.

My mom was at the hospital every minute, with my sister. Mary didn't cry at all, not one time. My mom wouldn't listen to the doctors who said that I wouldn't hear anything; that I was not just sleeping. They had said there was not much brain activity. But she just ignored them and read all my books to me, and dad spent every free minute at the hospital and told me stories.

After a little over three weeks I woke up. Just like that."

"Did you have any after effects from the head injury?" Malia wants to know.

"I don't remember much about the time right after I woke up. I do remember that I couldn't move much, my leg, hip and pelvis were broken and I was in a kind of body cast. My left arm and shoulder were also immobilized. I spent two months in the hospital and still needed crutches when I started school. And my head started to hurt when I got tired. I still get a headache when I'm really tired. And I remember that I hated Tuesdays and Fridays."

"Why?"

"I had physical therapy on those days."

"You didn't like that?" Danny wants to know.

"No. I don't remember what we did, I only remember the pain. But all in all I was incredibly lucky, all the bones healed without a problem, even my hip and pelvis. I had no problems about six months later when I tried out for football."

"My god, what your parents had to go through. I can only imagine if anything like that were to happen to Grace." Danny hugs his daughter a little tighter.

"But Danno, I always look left and right before I cross the street. Uncle Steve you shouldn't have run into the street like that."

"You're right Gracie. But I was playing with my friend and not paying attention to anything else. Don't ever do that. Never run after a ball near a street, Gracie, in fact, never even play near a street." Steve pushes himself up a little higher in the chair to get more comfortable, his leg is still hurting.

"You okay?" Danny knows that his friend is in pain from the injured muscles in his leg.

"Yeah, I'm fine. So, Chin, how about those special burgers you promised?"

"Coming right up. Danny, some help here?" Chin motions for his friend to follow him inside to get the food out.

"I guess your friend, Jeff, was pretty shocked that day?" Malia asks while putting the plates on the table.

"Yeah, he was. A month after the accident, he moved with his parents to The Big Island. His dad got a new job there. By the time I was out of the hospital and running around again… well he was far away and it wasn't the same anymore. The first two months in school I couldn't do that much, and I was younger and smaller than all the others. So I didn't really fit in. That only changed when I joined the football team. A good six months after the accident I was as good as new, well almost."

"Almost?" Cath can't really believe that her friend survived such a horrific accident without any long term repercussions.

"Yeah, as I said, if I tired myself out, I got a headache and if I didn't take a nap then it got really bad. And I was even more hyperactive than before, I just couldn't sit still. Except for in school, I had no trouble sitting there for hours on end."

"Steve, you said you still get headaches?" Malia knows a lot of accident victims who suffer their whole lives with some form of repercussion from their accidents.

"Yeah, I do. But I learned to live with that a long time ago. I have had them for most of my life, and they can get annoying at times but mostly I just ignore them. Most times I don't even register them until I have time to sit down for a minute. And they're not serious anymore. When I was a kid, they were pretty severe at times but that changed when I was around twelve or so. But actually it didn't really bother me that much. If I didn't feel well, I just slept for a few minutes and everything was fine again. Really it's no big deal."

Steve looks around and sees the worry in the faces of the women around him. But it really is no big deal to him, it's just how it is. He realized when he got older that it could have been a lot worse. The most likely outcome of such an accident is instant death. Having the ability to go to school three months later, becoming a star quarterback, and a SEAL later in life was pretty good considering that by all means he should have been dead for thirty years now.

H50 – H50 – H50

The team BBQ starts to wind down when the rain began in the early evening. Steve struggles with his crutches since it's a little awkward to hold them with his still splinted finger, but he manages to use them without too much trouble. He is getting tired which results in a slight headache, a consequence of his concussion or from his childhood head trauma. Whatever the cause, it's getting to him more than it normally would.

He carefully makes his way into the living room, puts his crutches next to the couch and lowers himself onto the cushions. He finds himself immediately surrounded by the five females of the party, all more than eager to make him as comfortable as possible. Gracie puts a pillow on the table in front of the couch and then Kono helps him settle his leg onto it. Lori brings him his drink from the kitchen and Catherine gets him his medication, while Malia takes his temperature, which still fluctuates daily from normal to a little over 101 in the evenings.

Chin and Danny just watch in amusement as the five women swarm all around him.

"Uncle Steve, is your leg hurting? Do you want another pillow?"

"No, Gracie, thank you. But you could open the fasteners on the boot." Steve motions to the Velcro strips. The boot is a little tight and his ankle began to hurt more in the last hour by the pressure on the still healing wound.

"Okay." She goes right to work and a moment later the pressure lessens considerably.

"Steve, let me take a look. Maybe I wrapped it a little too much." Malia gently takes the boot off and takes a look at the bandages. "Looks good, I guess you were just on your feet a little too much today. The ankle is a little swollen, but keep it elevated and you should be fine. Does it hurt much?"

"No, it is fine since the boot is off. Thanks, Malia."

"You're welcome. Please don't put weight on the foot without the boot on."

"Oh, don't worry, I won't." Steve has no desire to walk on his leg any time soon.

"Steve, I'll come by tomorrow to take another look. That okay with you?"

"Really, Malia, you don't have to do that." Steve hates all the attention he's getting lately.

"Hey, brah, let her come by, or I'll have to listen to my wife complain all day," Chin tells Steve with a smile, ducking the pillow thrown at him by said wife.

"Fine. Would you like to have lunch together? We could go to Morimoto's; he has a great new menu. My treat." Steve doesn't care where they are going as long as he's no longer confined to his hospital room or now his house.

"Uncle Steve, can we come too? Danno, please can we go?" Grace is almost jumping up and down by the prospect of seeing her Uncle Steve again the next day.

"Of course you can, if your Dad doesn't have other plans?" Steve looks at Danny.

"A free meal? Sponsored by you? We'll be there for sure." Danny laughs at his friend.

"Good. So you're all coming?"

Steve looks around his living room, filled with all the people he calls family. His best friend; who has saved his life more than once. Who he knows he can trust with all his little, and not so little secrets. Who will always have his back, no matter what.

His friends, Chin and Kono, who became much more than teammates a long time ago. Gracie, who sees an uncle in him. Who he loves dearly.

Lori, who is not quite as close to his heart as the others, but he considers her kind of family none the less.

And of course, the most important woman in his life, Catherine Rollins. He told Danny he loved her, and in the last week he came to the conclusion that there is no other woman for him. That he doesn't want any other woman, even though neither of them are ready for more than they are having right now. On Monday she will leave again for another TAD; for how long they have no idea. They will miss each other, but they are okay with the knowledge that she will be back as soon as she can.

Steve leans his head back and lets the chatter of his friends relax him further. At some point their conversation and laughter morphs into background noise and he drifts to sleep, knowing that he is surrounded by friendship and love.

H50 – H50 – H50

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><p><strong><em>Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to let me know how you liked it.<em>**


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